b. 1961, Cape Town
ACADEMICS
1988
Master of Fine Art: University of Cape Town (awarded with distinction)
Manuel and Luby Washkansky Scholarship, awarded post MFA, for academic merit
1985
Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art, University of Cape Town (awarded with distinction in Photography)
Class medal for Photography, Michaelis, UCT
Simon Gerson Prize for the most promising student, Michaelis, UCT
1982
Diploma in Fine Art: Ruth Prowse School of Art, Woodstock, Cape Town
TEACHING POSITIONS, RESIDENCIES, AWARDS
1991 – present
Tutor in Printmaking and Photography, Department of Fine Arts, Wits University (promoted to Senior Tutor in 1993 and Principal Tutor in 2000)
2003
Advisory Board member, Market Photo Workshop
Steering Committee, Visual Arts Network South Africa (VANSA), Gauteng Branch
Finalist, Daimler Chrysler Award for Creative Photography
2002
Public lecture on Public Art in SA and the Joubert Park Project, at ‘The Safe’, Unternehemen Mitte, Basel, Switzerland.
SGB Committee member for Art, Craft and Design.
2001
Three month residency, Christian Merianshtiftung iaab studios in Basel
‘Artist in Residence’, Ecole Cantonale d’Art du Vallais, Sierre, Switzerland
1993 – 2000
Advisory Board member, Market Galleries (Chairperson 95 – 98)
Participant, Lithography Research Workshop at the
Tamarind Institute, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, USA
Delegate, Curator’s Forum, sixth Photography Festival Le Printemps de Cahors, Cahors, France
Awarded FNB Vita Art Prize
1989 – 91
Part-time lecturer in Printmaking, Department Beeldende Kunste, Stellenbosch University
1985 – 91
Part-time and leave replacement lecturer in Printmaking and Photography, Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
1988 Master of Fine Art Graduate show, Irma Stern Museum, Cape Town
1989 Nadir, Metropolitan Life Gallery, Cape Town, travelling to Market Gallery, Johannesburg in 1990
1995 reShooting Diana, Rembrandt van Rijn Art Gallery, Market Theatre, Newtown, Johannesburg
1997 Guess who loves you, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg
1999 End of Time, Ibis Art Gallery, Nieu-Bethesda, traveling to the Mark Coetzee Fine Art Cabinet, Cape Town
2002 Snow White, Ecole Cantonale du’Art du Vallais, Switzerland
COLLABORATIONS AND JOINT EXHIBITIONS
2002
a bear, a giraffe, snow, dogs, flowers and Verbotstafeln, Bell-Roberts Gallery, Cape Town
Exhibition with Markus Schwander (Switzerland), Pro Helvetia residency exchange programme between Switzerland and South Africa
2001
Open Circuit (closing), NSA Gallery, Durban
Collaborative exhibition with Sebastian Diaz Morales (Argentina)
1999
Orpheus and Eurydice and the Arts of Memory: Public performance of extracts from an opera in progress at the Planetarium, Cape Town
The project included the following people: Composer: Philip Miller; Librettist: Jane Taylor; Visual Artists: William Kentridge and Jo Ractliffe
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2003
Cityscapes, Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg, traveling to the Grahamstown Festival
Coexistence: Contemporary Cultural Production in South Africa, The Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Massachusetts, USA
Show me Home, Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg
Daimler Chrysler Creative Photography Award Exhibition, Museum Africa, Johannesburg
2002
Body II: Sublimation (Klein Karoo National Arts Festival), Oudsthoorn
Iconografias Metropolitanas: Citades on, XXV Bienal de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
New Strategies, Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg
In No Particular Order, 16 Rencontres Video Art Plastique, Centre d’Art Contemporain de Basse-Normandie, France
Art City, (billboard project), Johannesburg
2001
Open Circuit (closing), NSA Gallery, Durban
1 Jan Smuts Ave (Wits University staff show), Standard Bank Gallery, Johannesburg
Joubert Park Public Art Project 2001, Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg
Open Studios, iaab studios, Basel, Switzerland
2000
Emotions and Relations, Sandton Art Gallery, Johannesburg.
Kwere Kwere: Journeys into Strangeness, B block, Castle of Good Hope, Cape Town, travelling to Gertrude Posel Gallery, Wits and NSA Gallery, Durban
Tour Guides of the Inner City, Market Gallery and sites in the inner city, Johannesburg
Contemporary Art Practice: Wits and the School Art Curriculum, Gertrude Posel Gallery, Wits University, Johannesburg
Collaboration, Brendon Bell-Roberts Gallery, Cape Town
A.R.E.A. (Art Region End of Africa), Reykjavik Art Museum, Reykjavik, Iceland
1999
Channel, AVA Gallery, Cape Town
Truth Veils, Gertrude Posel Gallery and Market Theatre Galleries, Johannesburg (in conjunction with The TRC: Commissioning the Past, conference hosted by the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation and the Wits History Workshop)
Emergence, Grahamstown Festival, travelling to NSA Gallery, Durban, and Standard Bank Gallery, Johannesburg
Lines of sight, South African National Gallery, Cape Town
X-scape: Photography in a new South Africa, NSA Gallery, Durban, travelling to Museum Africa, Johannesburg and Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki
Postcards from South Africa, Axis Gallery, New York
FNB Vita Art Prize, Sandton Civic Gallery, Johannesburg
Wedge (Wits University staff show), NSA Gallery, Durban
1998
Art dans le Monde: tendencies critiques 1998, Passage de Retz, Paris
Dreams and Clouds, Kulturhuset, Stockholm, Sweden
blank_ Architecture, apartheid and after, Netherlands Architectural Institute, Rotterdam, travelling to Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin (1999) and Museum Africa, Johannesburg (2000)
1998
Art dans le Monde: tendencies critiques 1998, Passage de Retz, Paris
Dreams and Clouds, Kulturhuset, Stockholm, Sweden
blank_ Architecture, apartheid and after, Netherlands Architectural Institute, Rotterdam, travelling to Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin (1999) and Museum Africa, Johannesburg (2000)
1997
3×10, Hanel Gallery, Cape Town
Zone, Generator Art Space, Africus Institute for Contemporary Art, Johannesburg
Photo/Synthesis, SANG at the Grahamstown Festival
Process and Practice in Contemporary South African Printmaking, Grahamstown Festival
Aborescence Sud-Africaine: des artists en fin de siecle, CRDC, Nantes Festival, France
Alternating Currents: Africus Johannesburg Biennale, Johannesburg
The Lost Wax Show, Department of Fine Arts, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
Reunion des Images ‘97, Le Port, Ille de la Reunion
1996
Female Printmakers: Graphic Artists from Cognate Language Cultures, Gynaika Festival, Stedelijk Museum Saint Niklas, Belgium
New Art, New Issues, South African National Gallery, Cape Town
Artists’ Books in the Ginsberg Collection, Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg
Don’t mess with Mister In-between, Culturgest, Lisbon, Portugal
1994
Biting the Ballot, Market Gallery, Johannesburg
GIF 2 book launch, Rembrandt van Rijn Art Gallery, Johannesburg
1993
Limits of Liberty, Weekly Mail and Guardian Censorship Film Festival Exhibition, Wits Theatre, Johannesburg
1992
The Processed Image, Newtown Galleries, Johannesburg
GIF book launch, FIG Gallery, Johannesburg
No Man’s Land, Durban Art Gallery, Durban
1991
Vita Art Now 1990, Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg
Huidige Werke, staff group show, University of Stellenbosch Art Gallery, Stellenbosch
1990
Mordant Methods book launch, Michaelis School of Fine Art Gallery, Cape Town
1989
Friends of NUSAS, University of Stellenbosch
Images for MOMA, Centre for African Studies, University of Cape Town
Joint show (with Lyn Smuts and Alma Vorster), Dorp Street Gallery, Stellenbosch, travelling to Johannes Stegmann Gallery, Bloemfontein
1988
FEDSAW exhibition of Women’s Art, Cape Town
1986
Untitled: Work by South African Artists, Cape Town Cultural Festival (This exhibition was originally titled About Time: Images of South Africa, but was banned.)
CURATORIAL PROJECTS:
1999
Member of curatorial team for Truth Veils, Gertrude Posel Gallery and Market Theatre Galleries, Johannesburg (in conjunction with The TRC: Commissioning the Past, conference hosted by the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation and the Wits History Workshop)
E./U. CWCI Fund Pinhole Photography Workshop (travelling exhibition of photographs produced during workshops held in Nieu-Bethesda in January, 1999 and publication of a technical manual on pinhole photography), Market Theatre, Johannesburg, Ibis Art Gallery, Nieu-Bethesda and Cape Town Month of Photography Festival
2000 – 01
Member of curatorial team for the Joubert Park Project, a public art project seeking to engage with inner city Johannesburg through workshops, residencies, public debates and a public art exhibition. Open Day was held on 3 December 2000; the final exhibition October 2001 – January 2002. (See http://www.joubertpark.co.za)
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
South African National Gallery, Cape Town
Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg
Durban Art Gallery, Durban
UNISA Art Gallery, Pretoria
Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch
Katrine Harries Print Cabinet, University of Cape Town, Cape Town
Institute for a Democratic Alternative for South Africa, Cape Town
Gauteng Legislative Assembly, Johannesburg
Brenthurst Library, Johannesburg
Gertrude Posel Gallery, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
Sandton Art Gallery, Johannesburg
MTN, Johannesburg
SABC, Johannesburg
SELECTED BOOKS, PUBLICATIONS AND ARTICLES
Allara, P. Contemporary Cultural Production in South Africa: Jostling for Position in Coexistence: Contemporary Cultural Production in South Africa. Allara, P., Martin, M. and Mtshiza, Z (eds) Brandeis University: Massachusetts
Atkinson, B. 1999. End of Time. in End of Time (exhibition catalogue). Mark Coetzee Fine Art Cabinet: Cape Town
Atkinson, B. Jo Ractliffe: Artist’s Book (taxi series 001). David Krut Publishing: Johannesburg
Bloch, R. 1997 Johannesburg: Circa Now! in Spazioe Societa Anno XIX n.77. Gangemi Editore: Rome
Josephy, S. 2002. Post-apartheid South Afican Photography in The Cape Town Month of Photography 2002. Grundlingh, G. (ed) Cape Town
Martin, M. 25 Bienal de Sao Paulo: Iconografias Metropolitanas: Citades (exhibition catalogue)
Morris, M. 1990. Myths and Visions. ADA Vol 8: Cape Town
Rankin, E and P Hobbs. 1997. Transferring the Charge: Printmaking Practice and Processes in a Transforming South Africa. David Phillip: South Africa
Ractliffe, J. 1989. Images of an Apocalypse. in Artworks in progress: The yearbook of the staff of the Michaelis School of Fine Art, UCT Vol 1. 1989. the Michaelis School of Fine Art: Cape Town
Ractliffe, J and P Skotnes. 1990. Mordant Methods: Art and technique of intaglio printmaking. (Limited edition book) Katrine Harries Print Cabinet: Cape Town.
Ractliffe, J. 1997. Pinhole Photography in The Art Paper, October, 1997. Art Educators’ Association: Johannesburg
Ractliffe, J. 1998. House/Icon in blank_Architecture, apartheid and after. Hilton Judin and Ivan Vladislavich (eds) Nai Publishers: Rotterdam
Ractliffe, J and M. Nicol. 1998. “When I was younger, I would boast about my memory. I tried to remember everything, like it was happening in a film. Later I photographed every dead animal I saw.” (Limited edition book) Chalkham Hill Press: Johannesburg.
Ractliffe, J. 1999. End of Time: a point of access (exhibition catalogue). Mark Coetzee Fine Art Cabinet: Cape Town
Ractliffe, J. 1999. A condition of between: A space in Nieu Bethesda in De Arte 60. UNISA: South Africa
Ractliffe, J. 1999. The E/U CWCI Fund Pinhole Photography Workshop in The Art Paper no 2 1999. Art Educators Association: Johannesburg
Ractliffe, J. 1999. Nieu-Bethesda Pinhole Workshop in 100 x C: Photography in South Africa (Cape Town Month of Photography Catalogue). South African Centre for Photography: Cape Town
Ractliffe, J. 1999. The E./U. CWCI Fund Pinhole Photography Workshop (exhibition catalogue and technical manual). Market Theatre Galleries: Johannesburg.
Ractliffe, J and J Brundrit. 1999. Speaking without words: Photography as agent in self-representation and communication in Encounters with photography: Photographing people in southern Africa, 1860 – 1999. Godby, M and Davidson, P (eds). S A Museum: Cape Town
Ractliffe, J. (contributor) 2000. Noise Pollution at the 1999 FNB Vita Prize Exhibition (ed Wilma Cruise). In De Arte 61. UNISA: South Africa
Ractliffe, J., Kreutzfeldt, D. and T. Kurgan. 2001. The Joubert Park Public Art Project 2001 (exhibition catalogue). The Joubert Park Project: Johannesburg
Rosengarten, Ruth. 1996. Don’t mess with Mister In between: 15 Artistas da Africa do Sul in Jornal de Exposicao No 22. Culturgest: Lisbon
Siopis, P. 1997. Remains of the Day in Guess who loves you (exhibition catalogue). The Artists’ Press: Johannesburg
Siopis, P. 1998. Domestic Affairs in De Arte 55. UNISA: South Africa
Siopis. P. On first seeing snow in a bear, a giraffe, snow, dogs, flowers and Verbotstafeln (exhibition catalogue): Bell-Roberts: Cape Town
Streak, G. (ed). 2001. Open Circuit. Pulse: Durban
Tully, A. 2003. The Photograph as a Fetishised Substitution for Loss in Artistic Production. University of the Witwatersrand: Johannesburg
Williamson, S and A Jamal. 1996. Art in South Africa: the future present. David Philip: South Africa
Younge, G. 2000. A.R.E.A. (Art Region End of Africa) Reykjavik Art Museum: Reykjavik