BERNI SEARLE: Curriculum Vitae
Born: July 7, 1964, Cape Town (CT), South Africa (SA)
Academic
Master of Art in Fine Art (MFA). University of Cape Town. 1992-95
Advanced Postgraduate Diploma in Fine Art. University of Cape Town. 1991
Higher Diploma in Education (PG) Secondary Education. University of Cape Town. Awarded with Distinction. 1988
Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art (BAFA). University of Cape Town. 1984-7
Awards
2001/2002. Civitella Ranieri Fellow.
July 2000. FNB Vita Award Finalist.
May 2000. DAK'ART 2000 Minister of Culture Prize. Dakar, Senegal.
2000. Nominated for Daimler - Chrysler Award for South African Contemporary Art.
February 2000. British Council Grant for 2-month residency at Gasworks.
1998. UNESCO, in conjunction with the International Art Critics Association (AICA) award for the work RED, YELLOW, BROWN form the "Colour Me" series exhibited at the 7th. International Cairo Biennale.
1994- 1999. MacIver Centre for Science and Development and DAAD Postgraduate scholarships.
1992. ASATT Grant. For a four month residency at the Canberra Institute of the Arts. Australian National University.
1985, Overall winner of National Ceramic Competition. Organized by Continental China.
Solo Exhibitions
August 2002. Works by Berni Searle, Solo Exhibition, Peres Projects, San Francisco, CA, USA
September 2001. Still. Solo exhibition, Axis Gallery, New York.
June 2001. Colour Matters. Solo exhibition, Kunsthalle Stadgallerie, Osnabrück, Germany.
7 - 30 April, 1999. Colour Me. Solo exhibition at the Mark Coetzee Fine Art Cabinet. Cape Town.
Group Exhibitions
March 21 - May 12, 2002. "DISLOCACION". Instalaciones de arte sudafricano. ("Dislocation" - Installations of Art from South Africa). Bilbao, Spain.
Septmber - October. Axis Gallery, New York
June 6 - November 4, 2001. Authentic/Ex-centric: Africa in and out of Africa. 49th Venice Biennale. Curated by Salah Hassan and Olu Oguibe. Venice, Italy.
January 7, 2001 - January 6, 2002. Encounters with the Contemporary. Curated by Elizabeth Harney. Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington D.C. U.S.A.
The Granary, Cape Town, 7 February 2001 and London. 15 April - 15 May, 2001. Participant in group exhibition: Juncture.
17 November, 2000 - 7 January, 2001. A.r.e.a. 2000. Reykjavik Art Museum. Iceland.
29 September - 20 October, 2000. L'Afrique a Jour. Lille, France.
September, 2000. Returning the Gaze. Billboard for Cape Town's One City Festival.
8 September - 8 November, 2000. L'art dans le Monde. Paris, France.
18 July - 2 September, 2000. FNB Vita 2000. Sandton Civic Gallery ll, Johannesburg, South Africa.
30 November, 2000. Artworks for Aids. Auction for commissioned work. Durban, Washington DC, Brussels, Boston.
5 May- 5 June, 2000. DAK'ART 2000. Dakar, Senegal.
18 April - 20 May, 2000. Insertion. Curated by Salah Hassan. Apex Gallery, New York, U.S.A..
2000. Kwere Kwere: Journeys into Strangeness. Travelling exhibition curated by Rory Bester. The Castle, Gertrude Posel Gallery, NSA
5 February - 4 March, 2000. Distinguished Identities: Contemporary African Portraiture. Curated by Barbara Frank. Staller Centre for the Arts. SUNY at Stoney Brook. New York, U.S.A.
February - March, 2000. Open Studio. Work produced in two-month residency at Gasworks. London, U.K.
13 January - 31 March, 2000. Afrika Portrat. House of World Cultures. Berlin, Germany.
10 December - 27 February, 1999. Solo exhibition of work produced during residency at Inova (Institute of the Visual Arts) at the University of Wisconsin. Milwaukee. US.A.
23 September - 16 October, 1999. Staking Claims. Curated by Emma Bedford. The Granary. Cape Town.
28 August - 25 September, 1999. Towards-Transit: New Visual Languages in South Africa. De Blaue Saal. Zurich, Switzerland.
9 August - 2 October, 1999. Postcards from South Africa. Axis Gallery, New York, U.S.A.
13 July - 31 October 1999. Lines of Sight. Perspectives on South African Photography, South African National Gallery, Cape Town.
29 June - 6 April, 1999. Emergence. To mark the 25th Anniversary of the Standard Bank National Arts Festival, covering the last 25 years of South African art. Grahamstown, Port Elizabeth, Durban, Johannesburg.
11 June - 9 July, 1999. Truth Veils. Commissioned work for the conference organised by the History Workshop, Wits University and the Centre for Violence and reconciliation titled 'The TRC: Commissioning the Past'. Gertude Posel Gallery. Johannesburg.
21 March - 26 June, 1999. Isintu: Ceremony, Identity and Community. Six South African artists and the work of selected Australian artists. Curated by Tumelo Mosaka. South African National Gallery, Cape Town.
26 - 31 March, 1999. Bloodlines/ Bloedlyn. Klein Karoo Kunste Fees. Oudtshoorn, Western Cape.
1998. 7th. International Cairo Biennale. Cairo, Egypt.
1997. 2nd. Johannesburg Biennale. Life's Little Necessities. The Castle. Cape Town.
1996. Illusions of Identity- Notions of Nationhood. MFA Graduate exhibition. Good Hope Gallery. The Castle. Cape Town.
1995. International Exhibition of Art Colleges. Hiroshima. Japan.
1992. Passing Through. Work completed in residency. Canberra Gallery, Australian National University. Canberra, Australia.
Selected References
Annie E. Coombes. 'Skin Deep/Bodies of Evidence: The Work of Bernie Searle' in: Authentic/Ex-Centric: Conceptualism in Contemporary African Art (Hassan, S. and Oguibe, O. (eds.), 2001)
Barbara Pollack, The Newest Avant-Garde'. ARTnews. April, 2001.
Tracy Murinik. 'Berni Searle'. NKA Journal of Contemporary Art. Spring/Summer. 2001
Sue Williamson. 'Staking Claims: Confronting Cape Town'. NKA Journal of Contemporary African Art. Fall/ Winter 2000
Tracy Murinik. 'State of the Art'. Leadership. May 2000
Brenda Atkinson (Ed.). WASH. Limited Edition Artist Magazine. Chalkham Hill Press. Rivonia. 1999
Emma Bedford. ' "What's it Mean?" The Cairo Biennale'. Co @Artsnews. February 1999
Collections
Billiton Collection, South Africa, (2001)
Hans Bogatzke Collection, Germany, (2001)
Buhl Foundation, New York, USA (2001)
South African National Gallery. Cape Town. (2000)
Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington DC. USA (2000)
NORAD, Oslo. Norway (1999)
Australian Parliament. Anti-apartheid lobby group. Canberra. Australia (1992)