WILLEM BOSHOFF (b. 1951)
Nothing Is Obvious
2004
cement, sand, steel, wood, glue and oils
95 x 95 cm
BIOGRAPHY
Willem Boshoff grew up in Vanderbijlpark, 75 kilometres south of Johannesburg. His father, Martiens, was a trained carpenter and Boshoff grew up with a love for wood and respect for technical expertise.
He decided to become a sculptor when he was 15 years old, but decided not to exhibit his artwork in a public gallery until he was 30. He had his first exhibition at the Johannesburg Art Gallery in 1981. His major works include KYKAFRIKAANS (1980), an anthology of concrete poetry, the Blind Alphabet Project (1995), Writing in the Sand (2001) and Garden of Words (in progress since 1982).
His work has been shown extensively in South Africa and internationally, notably at the Johannesburg Biennale; São Paulo Biennale; Venice Biennale; Havana Biennale; the Museum for African Art at the Smithsonian, Washington; the Triennale für Kleinplastik in Stuttgart (where he was awarded the Ludwig Giess Prize); Museo Nacional, Centro de Arte, Reina Sofia, Madrid; the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam; White Box Gallery, New York; MUseum van Hedendaagse Kunst Antwerpen; Galerie Asbæk in Copenhagen, Sonsbeek Internationaal, Arnhem, Netherlands and Art Unlimited at the Basel Art Fair. He won a Golden Loerie award in cooperation with Ogilvie International for his artwork Abamfusa Lawula (1997).
Boshoff’s academic career spans more than 20 years and he is a former head of the Department of Fine Art at the Technikon Witwatersrand (now University of Johannesburg). His qualifications include an honorary doctorate from the University of Johannesburg.
He has delivered guest lectures on the interaction of the visual and audio arts at various universities and he has published numerous essays and articles. He derives pleasure in a collection of avant-garde music, Gregorian chant and ethnic music. He spends much of his time compiling dictionaries, which often form the basis for his artworks. These include A Dictionary of Perplexing English, Beyond the Epiglottis, What Every Druid Should Know, Dictionary of Manias and Phobias, The Dictionary of Morphology, The Dictionary of–ologies and –isms, A Dictionary of Beasts and Demons, as well as The Dictionary of Winds, and the Dictionary of Obscure Financial Terms.
He also visits major gardens in the world to do research for his Garden of Words and Big Druid projects.
Notable publications about him include Ivan Vladislavic’s biography Willem Boshoff (Taxi–011, David Krut Publishing, 2005) and Warren Siebrits’s Willem Boshoff: Word forms and language shapes: 1975 – 2007 (Standard Bank Gallery, 2007).
Boshoff is currently based at his home and studio in Johannesburg.