INFORMATION

BIOGRAPHY

Portrait by Matthew Bradley.

Chris Soal (b. 1994, South Africa) is an award-winning, emerging artist.
Living and working between Johannesburg — a “city in tension” as Soal calls it — and Cape Town, has had a great impact on the artist’s work, as this position is “often about locating oneself in that space, both as a response and a critique.” Through his use of discarded and mundane ephemera, such as toothpicks and bottle caps, in conjunction with concrete, rebar, electric fencing cable and other industrial materials, Soal’s work examines structural impacts on urban living, reflects on the individual in relation to the collective, and foregrounds ecological concerns.

Soal’s spatial approach to sculpture reveals a sensitivity to texture, light and form, expressed in an abstract minimalist language. While, conceptually, his works refer to the socio-political context of their making, highlighting the histories embedded in the found material, and utilising them in a way that challenges societal assumptions of value.

In 2017, Soal graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts (Hons) at the University of Witwatersrand. He has received numerous awards, such as the Claire & Edoardo Villa Will Trust Grant, 2020; the SEED Award from the Southern African Foundation for Contemporary Art (SAFFCA), 2019 and the PPC Imaginarium Award in 2018. He has been awarded residencies by the South African Foundation of Contemporary Art, Knysna, South Africa; RAW Material Company, Dakar, Senegal); Residenza Roma by Montoro12, Italy, and by the Nirox Sculpture Park at the Cradle of Humankind in Johannesburg, South Africa.

He has exhibited in group shows at institutions such as the Nirox Sculpture Park, 2021; Iziko South African National Museum, 2020; FRAC MECA, Bordeaux, 2019; Stellenbosch University Museum, 2018, and Wits Art Museum, 2017. Most recently his solo exhibition, As below so above, was held at WHATIFTHEWORLD Gallery in 2021. Notably, Soal was selected as one of ten contemporary artists to participate in redesigning three handbags as part of the 5th edition of the Dior Lady Art project.

CONTACT

CHRIS SOAL
︎ Instagram
︎ Email

GALLERY

WHATIFTHEWORLD
www.whatiftheworld.com
16 Buiten Street, Cape Town
South Africa

Montoro 12
www.m12gallery.com
Rome and Brussels

NEWS

MAY - NIROX FOUNDATION

WHATIFTHEWORLD and Chris Soal are pleased to present Elegy at The Nirox Foundation’s The Covered Space. In response to the context and conditions of the exhibition space, key works spanning the last four years have been selected from the artist’s own collection.

Elegy touches on themes of ruins, decay, erosion, the relic and effigy, and stands in conversation with the artist’s first large-scale outdoor installation, Relic (2019-2021).

︎Click here for more information.

MAY - NIROX FOUNDATION SCULPTURE PARK

Chris Soal is pleased to announce the inclusion of his work in the group exhibition – Margins of Error at the Nirox Foundation Sculpture Garden in Johannesburg.

︎Click here for more information.

PRESS

INTERVIEW
︎ with Adam Hencz for Artland

INTERVIEW
︎ with Artoday

CHRIS SOAL’S COLLABORATION WITH LADY DIOR ART
︎ by Celeste Jacobs for VISI Magazine

INTERVIEW
︎ on As below so above for Tongues

INTERVIEW
︎ with Emilie Froment for Habitat Magazine

AMORPHOUS - THE SCULPTURES
OF CHRIS SOAL
︎ by Andrew Lasane for COLOSSAL

JOHANNESBURG ARTIST’S TOOTHPICK SCULPTURES POINT WAY FOR AFRICAN ABSTRACTION
︎ by Graham Wood on Wanted Online

Q&A WITH EMERGING SOUTH AFRICAN ARTIST CHRIS SOAL
︎ with Annzra Denita on House and Leisure

Q&A WITH 2018 PPC IMAGINARIUM WINNER
︎ with Marcia Elizabeth on Bubblegum Club

FIELD OF VISION REVIEW
︎ by Ashraf Jamal on ArtThrob

ARTICLES ON BUBBLEGUM CLUB BY CHRIS SOAL
︎ by Chris Soal

INTERVIEW ON CREATIVE GHETTOS
︎ by Creative Ghettos

FABULOUSLY DISORIENTED BY THE HUMBLE TOOTHPICK
︎ by Robyn Sassen on The Arts at Large

ORBITS OF RELATING REVIEW
︎ by Michael Smith on ArtThrob

STUDIO

WORK

WORK

INFO