Built from multiple de-contextualised, vernacular sources, Kate Gottgens’ compositions reject specification in time and location. Gottgens’ artistic practice exorcises the malaise that stems from the superficiality of suburban life, understanding ‘entropy and collapse’ to be central to the contemporary experience.
Gottgens was born in Durban, South Africa in 1965. She graduated from the Michaelis School of Fine Art at the University of Cape Town in 1987. She has exhibited her work internationally, in Europe, India, South Africa and the United States. Her work has been included in 100 Painters of Tomorrow (2014) and In the World : Essays on Contemporary South African Art (2017). In 2019 she won the Ampersand Fellowship Award. She lives and works in Cape Town, South Africa.