Claudette Schreuders
Fashioned from uncut timber, the carved, painted figures of South African sculptor Claudette Schreuders are powerful shamans alluding to a history of growing up under apartheid as an Afrikaans female.
Her thoughtfully rendered pieces have numerous precedents and influences: Noh masks, Baroque polychrome saints, medieval church sculpture, Spanish portraiture, Egyptian woodcarving, family photographs, and perhaps most notably, West African Colon figures—widely recognized icons of African art typically depicting Europeans in Western dress and ubiquitous in the craft markets of Schreuders’ homeland.
Usually smaller than life-size, with stocky bodies, almost comically large hands and feet, wide, haunting eyes and slightly enlarged heads, Schreuders’ works do not hide the cracks or grain of their wood surfaces. Though their faces are often stoic in expression, their quiet, understated air makes them poignant vessels for emotions that reach beyond cultural boundaries. Reflecting her fascination with storytelling, Schreuders’ figurative sculptures reveal the intimate world of spirituality, relationships, and personal experiences.
Born in Pretoria, South Africa, Schreuders received a BA in Fine Arts at the University of Stellenbosch and an MFA at the University of Cape Town. In 2004, she was the subject of a major one-person traveling exhibition entitled “The Long Day” that debuted at Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ. She has had solo and group shows at the Iziko South African National Gallery in Cape Town; the Contemporary Museum in Honolulu; the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University; the British Museum, London, England; the Austin Museum of Art, TX; and at the Museum of Modern Art and the Museum for African Art, both in New York City
- Solo Exhibitions
- 2009
- Recent Lithographs, Michael Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
- 2007
- The Fall, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, NY
- 2006
- Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, NY
- 2005
- Michael Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
- 2004
- The Long Day, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, traveling to: University Art Museum, San Diego State University, CA; Hand Art Center, Richmond, VA; Atlanta College of Art Gallery, GA
- Warren Siebrits Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
- 2002
- Crying in Public, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, NY
- The Critic, Project room, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, NY
- 2001
- Burnt By the Sun, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, NY
- 1998
- Claudette Schreuders, The Civic Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
Group Exhibitions
- 2009
- Strenghts & Convictions: The life and times of The South African Nobel Peace Laureates, Iziko National Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
- 2008
- The Other Mainstream II, Selection from the Mikki and Stanley SteinSchreuders Collection, Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, AZ
- Inside Out, Gallerie Michael Anderson, Berlin, Germany
- 2007
- Family Relations, Warren Siebrits, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Afterlife, Michael Stevenson, Cape Town, South Africa
- All The More Real – Portrayals of Intimacy and Empathy, The Parish Art Museum, South Hampton, NY
- 2006
- Since 2000: Printmaking Now, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
- Personal Affects, The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, HI
- 2005
- 2005 Collectors Show and Sale, Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR
- 2004
- Innocence and Insight, Claire Oliver Fine Art, New York, NY
- Season South Africa, Presented by Museum of African Art and exhibited at The Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, New York, NY
- African Art is..., Curated by Jerome Vogel and Laurie Farell, The UBS Art Gallery, New York, NY
- 2003
- Contact Zones, Michael Stevenson Contemporary, South Africa
- Coexistence, The Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA
- Teken, Exhibition of drawings, Art on Paper, Johannesburg, South Africa
- 2002
- Six Stories, Karoo National Arts Festival, Outshoorn, South Africa
- Familie Verhalen uit Zuid Afrika, KIT Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam, Holland
- Bitterkomix, Drawing Exhibition, AVA Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
- 2000
- Voices of South Africa, The British Museum, London, England
- Unplugged V, Rembrandt van Rijn Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Vita Awards 2000, Sandton Civic Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
- A.R.E.A. 2000-Art Region End of Africa, Reykjavik Art Museum, Iceland
- 1999
- Emergence, Standard Bank National Arts Festival, Grahamstown, South Africa
- Liberated Voices: Contemporary Art from South Africa, The Museum for African Art, New York, NY traveling to Austin Museum of Art, TX; Iris & B. Gerald Canto Center For Visual Arts at Stanford University, CA; The University of Arizona Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ
- 1998
- Lake Naivasha International Artists, National Museum, Nairobi, Kenya
- Bringing up Baby: Artists Survey the Reproductive Body, Standard Bank National Arts Festival, Grahamstown, Capetown, South Africa; Johannesburg Civic Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
- 1997
- Unplugged II, Rembrandt van Rijn Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
- The Art of Describing, The Open Window Art Gallery, Pretoria, South Africa
- Lifetime Art Exhibition of Southern African Art, Out of Africa Festival, Munich, Germany
- Michaelis Final Year Exhibition, Michaelis School of Fine Art, Cape Town, South Africa
- 1996
- Earth and Everything- Recent Art from South Africa, Toured Great Britain 1996-1997: Arnolfini - Bristol; C.C.A. - Glasgow; Colchester Essex; Wrexham Arts Center – Wales
- 1995
- Kaping, Newtown Artspace, Biennial Fringe, Johannesburg, South Africa
- International Student Exhibition, Hiroshima, Hiroshima, Japan
- 1994
- Graduation Exhibition, University of Stellenbosch Gallery, Stellenbosch, South Africa
- 1993
- South African Environments, University of Stellenbosch Gallery, Stellenbosch, South Africa