William Kentridge Joins Hauser & Wirth

William Kentridge b. 1955, South Africa Follow +

On Thursday, global art giant Hauser & Wirth announced its representation of South African artist William Kentridge in collaboration with Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, and Galleria Lia Rumma, Milan. An exhibition for the artist is scheduled to open at one of Hauser’s New York locations in 2025.

Kentridge leaves long-time dealer Marian Goodman Gallery, New York, who helped build his reputation over more than two decades. Kentridge has exhibited at major institutions worldwide since the 1990s, including Musée du Louvre in Paris, MoMA in New York, and the Royal Academy of Arts in London.

Centring the history and politics of South Africa, where he was born and resides, Kentridge has made a significant body of work over the last five decades that encompasses print, drawing, sculpture, and animated film, as well as theatre and opera productions. He is perhaps best known for his collages.

‘The idea of collage seems to me to be the most accurate and naturalist description of the necessity we have of making sense of the world by taking different fragments and putting them together as if there is coherence,’ Kentridge told Ocula in 2018.

Influenced by his upbringing under apartheid, Kentridge’s practice looks at questions of history, memory, and record keeping, notably by re-imagining archival materials such as maps, language, and everyday imagery to unfold absurdities and inequities in the country.

‘William’s virtuosity as an artist, thinker, polymath and mentor of others sets him apart as a creative luminary of our time,’ said Iwan Wirth, President of Hauser & Wirth.

‘We look forward to working in close collaboration with Goodman Gallery—a “home” gallery to William for 30 years—and Galleria Lia Rumma and to furthering the mission to expand global awareness of, engagement in, and appreciation for Kentridge’s art and values.’

‘I would say it is a transitional time for William,’ Emily Jane Kirwan, a partner at Marian Goodman Gallery, told Artnews. ‘His practice has become focused on extremely large theatrical performances, stage productions, and, more recently, films that have appeared in film festivals and have different distributions.’

In addition to the artist’s exhibition at Hauser & Wirth, New York, in 2025, a world premier of Kentridge’s opera The Great Yes, the Great No will take place at LUMA Fondation in Arles, France from 7 July 2024. —[O]

Main image: William Kentridge. Photo: Norbert Miguletz. © William Kentridge. All Rights Reserved, DACS 2024 Courtesy the artist, Goodman Gallery, and Hauser & Wirth.