Biography
William Kentridge is a draughtsman, filmmaker, theatre maker and philosopher whose work addresses histories of violence, erasure, memory and loss.
Kentridge’s work has been exhibited widely since the early 1980s. Recent solo exhibitions have been presented at Taipei Fine Arts Museum (2024); Palazzo Branciforte, Palermo (2023); Royal Academy of Arts, London (2022); University of Wyoming Art Museum (2021); Deichtorhallen, Hamburg (2020); Gropius Bau, Berlin (2016); Louvre, Paris (2010); Philadelphia Museum of Art, US (2008); Moderna Museet, Stockholm (2007); Museum of Modern Art, New York (1999, 2006); Deutsche Guggenheim, Berlin (2005); Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2004); Castello di Rivoli, Turin, Italy (2004); Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris (2002); New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York (2001); and Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC (2001). Travelling exhibitions of his work have been organised by Whitechapel Gallery, London (2016), and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (2008).
His work has also been featured in group exhibitions at the Besançon, France (2023); Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne (2022); Red Brick Art Museum, Beijing (2021); Fondation de l'Ecole Internationale de Geneve (2019); Istanbul Biennial (1995, 2015); documenta, Kassel, Germany (1997, 2002, 2013); Venice Biennale (1993, 2005); Auckland Triennial (2004); Sharjah Biennial 6 (2003); and Shanghai Biennial (2000), among others.
Among his numerous awards are the Order of the Star of Italy, Rome (2022); Queen Sonja Lifetime Achievement Award (printmaking), Oslo (2022);Ruth Baumgarte Art Prize, Hanover (2021); Praemium Imperiale from the Japan Art Association, Tokyo (2019); Antonio Feltrinelli International Prize, Rome (2018); Princesa de Asturias Award for the Arts, Principado de Asturias, Spain (2017); Apollo Artist of the Year Award (2015); Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres, France (2013); Dan David Prize (2012); Kyoto Prize (2010); Jesse L. Rosenberger Medal from the University of Chicago (2006); Kaiserring Prize, Mönchehaus Museum Goslar, Germany (2003); Sharjah Biennial 6 Prize (2003); and Carnegie Prize, Pittsburgh, US (1999).
Kentridge earned a Bachelor of Art in Politics and African Studies from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (1976), and a degree in fine arts from the Johannesburg Art Foundation (1978). He also studied mime and theatre at the École internationale de théâtre Jacques Lecoq, Paris (1981–1982).
Kentridge was born in 1955 in Johannesburg, where he continues to live and work.
