Born in Zimbabwe and based in Cape Town, Dave Robertson has been producing artwork and exhibiting since the mid-90s. Initially known for his charged documentary photography the artist now focuses on creating paintings that move beyond portraying reality. Driven by a synthesis of gestural brushstrokes and expressive smears, he offers viewers a liminal space of something that was and is becoming..

Robertson spent the early part of his journey as an artist, in the film industry freelancing as an art director. In between film projects he followed his passion for photography, documenting marginalised lifestyles as a form of social commentary. In 2010, Dave won a national prize for his Paper Trails documentary project – a piece investigating recyclers in Newtown, Johannesburg – at the Spier Contemporary Competition. After this feat, he decided to take a break from photography and the film industry and focus on painting. World Art Gallery, Cape Town, hosted his first solo exhibition of large-scale abstract paintings in 2011. He has since continued to explore the realm of abstraction.

Dave works by manipulating information and impulses – presented to him during the creative process – to create a visual narrative. Relying on his ability to react to whatever marks, gestures or brushstrokes appear on the canvas, he lets the evolution of the painting guide his hand. Often working on several pieces simultaneously, operating on various degrees of awareness and intuition, he attempts to uncover what the artwork is trying to tell him. Dave intends to produce works that influence the viewer the same way the creative process influenced him. In doing so, he hopes to allow the viewer to fully appreciate the autonomy and uniqueness of each of his works.

Dave has exhibited prolifically in solo and group shows at galleries spanning Germany, the USA, the Netherlands and South Africa. His paintings have been acquired by a variety of international collectors from the UK, the USA, Australia and Sweden. Local collectors include the South African Foundation for Contemporary Art (SAACA), AFDA, and Spier Arts Trust.

Solo exhibitions painting :

2022 “Disrupting the surface”, Sisonke Gallery, Cape Town.

2022 “FLUX”, Alliance Francaise du Cap, Cape Town.

2011 “concrete tails and urban trails”, Worldart, Cape Town.

Group exhibitions paintings and prints :

2022 “When life doesn’t give you lemons”, OriginArt, Johannesburg.

2021 “Summer Salon”, Nel Gallery, Cape Town.

2021 “Plane”, Deepest Darkest Gallery, Cape Town.

2021 “Up to the mark”, AITY Gallery, Franschhoek.

2021 “Abstrakt”, Nel Gallery, Cape Town.

2021 “All we need is”, AITY Gallery, Franschhoek, Western Cape.

2020 “Home is where the art is”, Zeitz MOCAA Gallery, Cape Town.

2020 “Summer Salon”, Nel Gallery, Cape Town.

2020 “Edition 2020”, Alliance Francaise du Cap, Cape Town.

2020 Artist Solidarity Assistance Project, Berman Contemporary, Johannesburg.

2019 “Turbine Art Fair”, represented by Candice Berman Gallery, Johannesburg.

2018 “Ancillary Axes”, Candice Berman Gallery, Johannesburg.

2018 Twentieth Anniversary show, Artvark Gallery, Cape Town.

2018 “Vivid and Vibrant”, Gallery One11, Cape Town.

2017 Inaugural exhibition, Berman Contemporary, Johannesburg.

2017 “Michaelis Silent Auction”, Smith Gallery, Cape Town.

2017 “Drought”, Artvark gallery, Kalk bay, Cape Town.

2017 “Cape Town Salon”, AVA Gallery, Cape Town.

2016 “Ephemeral Pleasures”, Moor Gallery, Franschoek.

2016 “Muse Montage”, Eclectica Modern Gallery, Cape Town.

2016 “Materialisation”, AITY Gallery, Franschhoek, Western Cape.

2016 “A tribute to Rose Korber”, AVA Gallery, Cape Town.

2014 “Great Stock”, AVA Gallery, Cape Town.

2013 “Artreach“, AVA Gallery, Cape Town.

2013 “Proverbs”, Church St. Gallery, Cape Town.

Group exhibitions photography :

2016 “Broken Chords”, Candice Berman Gallery, Johannesburg.

2015 “Twenty: Art in the time of democracy”, University of Johannesburg.

2015 “Twenty: Art in the time of democracy”, Pretoria Art Museum.

2014 Turbine Art Fair, represented by Res gallery, Johannesburg

2014 “20 Years of Democracy”, Appalachian State University, North Carolina, USA.

2014 “Urban Wonderland”, Kalk Bay Modern, Cape Town.

2010 ”Point of Focus”, pinhole photography, Kalk Bay Modern, Cape Town.

2010 ”Bonani Africa Festival”, Cape Castle, Cape Town.

2010 “Spier Contemporary Awards 2010”, Cape Town.

2009 “Spirit of Ubuntu”, Exposure Gallery, Cape Town.

2007 “CT 24”, Focus Contemporary Gallery,Cape Town.

2004 “PhotoLA 2004”, The Perfect Exposure Gallery, Los Angeles, USA.

2002 Exhibition of lithographs: Kim Sacks Gallery, Johannesburg.

2001 “Absolut Cape Town”, Pinnacle Building, Cape Town.

2001 “Collaborative Art”, The Upstairs Gallery, Cape Town.

2000 “Collaboration”, Bell-Roberts Gallery, Cape Town.

Solo exhibitions photography:

2015 “Partially Nomad”, THATARTFAIR, Cape Town.

2014 “Partially Nomad”, Res Gallery, Johannesburg.

2012 “Plakkerskamp 2003 – 2012”, book launch at Chateau de Wiltz, Luxembourg.

2013 “Plakkerskamp 2003 – 2012″, Salle Culturelle Kaundorf, Luxembourg, Europe.

2008 “Rain”, Focus Contemporary Gallery, Cape Town.

2007 “Abstract Egypt”, Focus Contemporary Gallery, Cape Town.

2005 “Remember”, Irma Stern Museum, Cape Town.

2004 “De Dependance”, Smelik & Stokking, Den Haag, Netherlands.

2000 “Metaphysical Photography”, The Upstairs Gallery, Cape Town.

1999 “Colour Spirit”, hand-painted photographs, Jazz Radio, Berlin, Germany.

1998 “Colour Spirit”, hand-painted photographs, ARTCO, Leipzig, Germany.

1998 “Colour Spirit”, hand-painted photographs, Marzahn Library, Berlin, Germany.

1998 “Colour Spirit”, hand-painted photographs, Jojo Centre, Berlin, Germany.

1996 Exhibition of life on the streets of Luanda, Angola for Kandengues Unidos, held in Paris, Angola, Mozambique. Initiated by CIES and the E.U.

Awards

Shortlisted for the Rise Art Prize 2018, for his “Subtraction print series”.

His photographic book entitled, Plakkerskamp, Bonnievale South Africa 2003-2012, won a prize at the Lëtzebuerger Buchpräis 2013, a national book award ceremony, in Luxembourg.

Spier Contemporary 2010 award for “Paper Trails”, a documentary photographic project focusing on informal recyclers in Newtown, Johannesburg.

Robertson’s artworks have been acquired by a variety of international collectors from Sweden, the USA, Tasmania, and the UK. Local collectors include the South African Foundation for Contemporary Art (SAACA), Nandos and AFDA.

Publications

2019 “Accentuated fluidity” print series catalogue by Berman Contemporary.

2018 Article in Habitat Magazine, by Candice Berman Gallery, highlighting the Transition print series.

2015 Article in Future Cape Town, an online magazine featuring a photo essay highlighting the Transition series and travels in African cities.

2012 Publication of his first photographic book Plakkerskamp, Bonnievale South Africa 2003-2012. The book documents a marginalized community living on a municipal refuse dump in the Western Cape, over a nine year period.

2011 Article in Elle Decor magazine (March/April edition), about his abstract paintings created using textured industrial paints.

2010 Spier Contemporary 2010 awards book.

2010 Bonani Africa documentary exhibition catalogue.

2003 Hand-painted photograph used as cover image for Wayne State University press spring/summer catalogue.

2002 Article in July edition of Elle magazine, about his hand-painted photographs showing at Kim Sacks gallery, Johannesburg.

1998 “Colour Spirit” exhibition print catalogue for ARTCO, Germany.

1999 “Collaboration”, exhibition catalogue, Bell-Roberts gallery, Cape Town.

1996 Book of interviews and photographs of life on the streets of Luanda, Angola for Kandengues Unidos. Exhibition and book launch held in Paris, Angola, and Mozambique.

Commissions

1996 Commissioned by the Red Cross Society to create a calendar depicting life in South Africa.

1996 Commissioned by the European Union and CIES (Rome), to photograph life on the streets of Luanda, Angola, for a book project.