Acrylic on Canvas
47 x 41.5 inches
Neill Wright
Biography
Neill Wright is a multidisciplinary artist based in Johannesburg, South Africa. His satirical work braves the world of social commentary in a bold, colorful and humorous manner. Wright explores various mediums, such as sculpture, printmaking, and painting as modes of expression, drawing inspiration from the interconnected worlds of media, popular culture, politics, and societal interactions in an attempt to create panoramic views of current issues, hardships, complexities, and paradoxes present within South African and to some extent African society as a whole. Through highlighting the absurdities of a collectively experienced ‘every day’, his work subverts the tragic, placing the viewer in a space where they are confronted by opposing feelings: the melancholic reality and the ironic hilarity of his compositions.
In 2007, Neill graduated with distinction for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art (Honours), at the Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town, where he was co-awarded the Simon Gerson Prize for an outstanding body of work. In 2009, he graduated with a Postgraduate Diploma in Fine Art, majoring in printmaking. In 2013, Wright was named one of the ten emerging South African artists to watch by The Times, and he has exhibited in a number of group and solo shows as well as at numerous South African and International Art fairs. His works are housed in private collections in Europe, the United States, Australia, and South Africa.
CV
Solo Exhibitions:
2025
We Turned Off the Road, Everard Read Gallery, Cape Town
2024
Stepping in between, District Gallery, Cleveland OH
Inner Sanctum, Everard Read Gallery, Cape Town
2023
This Quiet Company, Everard Read, Cape Town
Where the light gets in, Carousel Fine Art, Miami
2022
A New Solitude, Everard Read, Johannesburg
I Forget Where We Were, District Gallery, Cleveland
2020
To Anywhere and Nowhere, Everard Read, Cape Town
The only Way Out Is Through, Everard Read, Johannesburg
2018
Blizzard Head, Everard Read, Johannesburg
2016
Wilderness, CIRCA Gallery, Johannesburg,
2015
The Atrophy and the Ecstasy, Sulger-Buel Lovell, Cape Town
2013
The Hilarity of Reality, Circa Gallery, Johannesburg
2012
Spectacular but Empty, The Lovell Gallery, Cape Town
2011
Protect Your Roots, Salon91 Contemporary Art Collection, Cape Town
Selected Groups Exhibitions:
2024
Southern Light, Everard Read, London
2021
L & G Projects, La Jolla, USA
Spring, Everard Read, Johannesburg
Summer, District Gallery, Cleveland, USA
Summer, Everard Read, London
2019
Cubicle Series, Everard Read, Cape Town
2017
Now, Sulger-Buel Lovell, London
2015
Bronze Steel Stone, Everard Read & Circa, Johannesburg
2014
Liberation un(masked), Sulger-Buel Lovell, London
Everard Read Cape Town Summer of Sculpture, Mount Nelson Hotel, Cape Town
Selected Art Fairs:
2024
RMB Latitude Art Fair, Johannesburg, South Africa
2023
Joburg Art Fair, Everard Read, Johannesburg
Palm Beach Modern & Contemporary, Carousel Fine Art, Palm Beach
Art Palm Beach, Carousel Fine Art, Palm Beach
2022
Context Miami, Carousel Fine Art, Miami USA
Joburg Art fair, Everard Read, Johannesburg
2021
Context Miami, Carousel Fine Art, Miami USA
2018
Joburg Art Fair, Everard Read, Johannesburg
2017
Cape Town Art Fair, CTICC, Sulger-Buel Lovell booth, Cape Town
FNB Joburg Art Fair, Everard Read booth, Johannesburg
Turbine Art Fair, Sulger-Buel Lovell, Johannesburg
2016
FNB Joburg Art Fair, Everard Read booth, Johannesburg
Cape Town Art Fair, CTICC, Sulger-Buel Lovell booth, Cape Town
2013
Sydney Contemporary, Everard Read booth, Australia,
Awards:
2007
Co-awarded the Simon Gerson Prize for an outstanding body of work, graduating with distinction at the Michaelis School of Fine Art, UCT
2011
Winner of the Lovell Tranyr Art Trophy
2013
Listed, in The Times, as one of the top 10 emerging South African artists to watch
Press:
2019
Five-page article by J. Claiborne Bowdon in Modern Dallas Magazine
2024
Modern Dallas Magazine