ashley.walters6@gmail.com | +27 71 350 2098
Ashley Walters’ approach to visual storytelling, photographing people and places, is rooted in celebrating daily occurrences. His work embodies a subjective yet critical exploration of urban behaviours and processes, exploring their unpredictable dimensions and wavering between intimate complicity and deep observation. It emphasizes a non-spectacular representation of reality. Whereas some images provide tableaus of inhabited spaces, others render non-territories that bespeak up-rootedness, scarring, and liminality. Through experimenting with digital and analogue photographic processes, non-linear film, sculpture, installation and drawing, his work frequently merges documentary with creative storytelling. Exploring in-depth narratives concerning societal shifts, identity, concepts of home, and the impact of historical trauma on communities.
Born in 1983, in Cape Town, he completed his BAFA (2011) and an MFA (2013) at the Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town, where he was the recipient of several prestigious awards and scholarships, including the Michaelis Prize (2011) and Tierney Fellowship Award (2013). Walters completed a creative exchange at Hochschule für Bildende Künste in Braunschweig (2013). In 2015 he was awarded an Apexart Fellowship in New York, and an artist residency in Amersfoort, Netherlands in 2017/18. Commissioned by Magnum Foundation in collaboration with The Atlantic Philanthropies and other organisations his work has been featured widely in publications such as Laying Foundations for Change; Rogue Urbanism: Emergent African Cities; Aperture magazine: Platform Africa, Summer 2017 edition (#227), Rencontres de Bamako: Biennale Africaine De La Photographie 10ème édition; Strange Cargo: Essays on Art and Evergreen Review.
Walters has participated in numerous international exhibitions in Bamako, Netherlands, London, Germany, New York, Beijing, and South Korea and exhibited his works widely within South Africa including Norval Foundation and Iziko SANG.
He is the Fine Arts Coordinator at Stellenbosch University’s Visual Arts Department, where he teaches and supervises undergraduate and postgraduate students in contemporary art, specializing in photography and new media.
Master of Fine Art (Distinction), Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town, South Africa, 2013
Bachelor in Fine Art (Distinction), Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town, South Africa, 2011
Awards
The Tierney Fellowship
Katrine Harries Print Cabinet Award
NAC Funding, National Arts Council of South Africa
NAC Bursary, National Arts Council of South Africa
CCA Scholarship, University of Cape Town
Mentor of the Year, Student Wellness, University of Cape Town
Hayden Lubisi Scholarship
The Michaelis Prize
Simon Gerson Prize
Cecil Skotnes Scholarship
David Marais Memorial Prize
Collections
Iziko South African National Gallery
Sanlam Art Collection
The Tierney Family Foundation
University of Cape Town Art Collection
Katrine Harries Print Cabinet
Scheryn Art Collection
Youngblood Africa
Cohesive Capital
Art Gazette
ArtThrob
Pathology Learning Centre, University of Cape Town
Laboratory for the Economics of Africa’s Past, Stellenbosch University
Residencies
Het Vijfde Seizoen, Residency, Netherlands, 2017
Apexart, New York City, 2015. Apexart fellow journal
Between the Lines is a forum for artistic and academic dialogue that will invite ten artists and thirty art students from Germany (Braunschweig School of Art) and South Africa (Michaelis School of Fine Art) into intensive exchange via two symposia and an exhibition. Between the Lines was initiated by Professor Candice Breitz (Braunschweig University of Art) and the late Professor Colin Richards (Michaelis School of Fine Art). The project is funded by Germany's Federal Ministry of Education and Research in the context of The German-South African Year of Science 2012/2013, a year of exchange between South Africa and Germany that aims to strengthen cooperation and create new networks between the two countries. Video
Presentations
2024
In Conversation with Brenda Goldblatt, hosted by Stellenbosch Triennale and curator Anelisa Mangcu (Under the Aegis) as the organisers of the Stellenbosch Outdoor Photography Exhibition, Oudelees Kamer, Stellenbosch. 8 February
2022
Artist Walkabout, Hotel Hernandez Art School Graduate Exhibition I: An Enquiry into Pedagogy. Participating artists Anico Mostert, Ashley Walters, Erin Chaplin, Haroon Gunn-Salie, Sukuma Mkhize, Water Dixon (Cait Warther & Wendy Dixon). Iziko South African National Gallery. 21 May
Walkabout with Zarah Cassim, David Hernandez, Haroon Gunn-Salie, Erin Chaplin, Sukuma Mkhize, Cait Warther, Ashley Walters. Hotel Hernandez Art School Graduate Exhibition I: An Enquiry into Pedagogy. Iziko South African National Gallery. 12 April
2019
China-South Africa Cultural Exchange Workshop on the Protection and Inheritance of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Cultural Development Institute, Yunnan University, Kunming, China
Creative Dialogues, Imagined Futures. Identities and Contemporary African Photography: In conversation with Thandiwe Msebenzi & Mark Antonello. Stellenbosch Academy of Design and Photography. 13 June
The Role of the Artistic Community in Gentrification, Panelists Prof Ronnie Donaldson, Prof Gustav Visser, Jaco Van Schalkwyk, Lauren Theunissen and Ashley Walters (moderator), Visual Arts, Stellenbosch University. 6 May
Artist Talk, Orms Cape Town School of Photography. 13 March
Artist Talk, Stellenbosch Academy of Design and Photography. 8 March
Visiting Artists Programme (VAP), Visual Arts, Stellenbosch University. 5 March
2018
Forward? Forward! Forward… Opening Symposium by Dr Morne Mostert, Prof Lize van Robbroeck and Ashley Walters, Stellenbosch University Museum. 5 December
Symposium Tell Freedom, Presentations by artists MADEYOULOOK, Lerato Shadi and Ashley Walters, Kunsthal KAdE Museum, Netherlands. 27 January
2017
Zeitz MOCAA Panel Discussion - Alternate Voices: Pages, Panelists Babak Affrassiabi; Tazneem Wentzel; Ashley Walters and Sven Christian (moderator), Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa. 16 December. Transcription
Long Views: Photo Focus, Presented by Cameraland in association with AVA Gallery, Presentations by Retha Ferguson, Imraan Christian and Ashley Walters, AVA Gallery. 20 July
2015
Apexart Fellowship Talk, In conversation with Apexart Executive Director Steven Rand, Apexart, New York. 3 December
Solo Exhibitions
2019
Parallel, SMAC Gallery, Stellenbosch. 3 Aug - 4 Oct
White City, GUS Gallery, Stellenbosch. 14 - 31 May
2016
Uitsig, Sanlam Art Lounge, Sandton, Johannesburg
2015
Uitsig, Sanlam Art Gallery, Cape Town
Uitsig, Masters Graduate Exhibition, Michaelis Galleries, Cape Town
Group Shows
2023
Between the Shadows, Group Exhibition at The Leeuwenhof Slave Quarters Remembrance Gallery, curated by AVA, Cape Town. Participating artists include Ashley Walters, Boyce Magandela, Graeme Williams, Haroon Gunn-Salie, Igshaan Adams, Rory Emmet, Ruth Motau, Sitaara Stodel and Zyma Amien. 7 October - 31 December 2023
Sculpture on the Cliffs curated by Melvyn Minnaar as part of the Hermanus Fynarts Festival. Participating artists include Ashley Walters, Conrad Hicks, Frank van Reenen, Guy du Toit, Hannelie Coetzee, Jaco Sieberhagen, Jacques Dhont, Kevin Brand, Sophia Van Wyk, and Wilma Cruise. 10 June 2023 - 30 May 2024
Everyday Captures, Group Exhibition, SMAC Gallery, Johannesburg 22 April - 20 May
2022
Some of US, Group Exhibition, GUS Gallery, Stellenbosch. 5 Dec 2022 - 28 Jan 2023
Horizon: Selections from the Sanlam Art Collection. Curated by Clare Patrick. Boschendal Norval Gallery, Franshoek. 2 Jul - 27 Sep
Good Neighbours - OPEN LABORATORY #2, Winter Sculpture Exhibition. Curated by Sven Christian. Nirox Sculpture Park. 7 May - 31 August
Charting the Uncharted, Group Exhibition, Camissa Museum, Castle of Good Hope. 4-6 June
Hotel Hernandez Art School Graduation Exhibition I: An Enquiry into Pedagogy. Curated by Zarah Cassim and David Hernandez. Iziko South African National Gallery. 17 March - 21 May
Charting the Uncharted, Group Exhibition, GUS Gallery, Stellenbosch. 11 Feb - 27 Mar
The Norval Sovereign African Art Prize Exhibition, Norval Foundation. 26 Jan - 28 Feb
2020
Content, Quoin Rock, Stellenbosch. 8 Dec
Double Vision, Art B Gallery, Cape Town. 12 Feb - 7 Mar
2019
Latitudes Art Fair, Nelson Mandela Square, Johannesburg. 13 - 15 Sep
Self, Glen Carlou Gallery, Stellenbosch. 28 July - 22 Sep
The 24th Guangzhou International Art Fair, Contemporary African Photography & Video Art, Booth A-03, Guangzhou, China. 21 - 24 July
师父，这个地方在哪里？: 8.7832° S, 34.5085° E, Curated by Megan Mace, A.C Embassy Art Museum, Beijing, China. 17 - 26 May
Forward? Forward! Forward… Stellenbosch University Museum, Stellenbosch. 5 December 2018 - 30 April
2018
Incheon International Marine Festival of Photography and Video, Incheon, South Korea. 17 August - 2 September
Tell Freedom, Kunsthal KAdE Museum, Amersfoort, Netherlands. 27 January - 6 May catalogue
2017
Peer, SMAC Gallery, Cape Town. 28 October - 18 November
FNB Joburg Art Fair, AVA Gallery, Johannesburg.
PhotoFocus, AVA Gallery, Cape Town. 18 July - 12 August
Nano 1.1, Barnard Gallery, Cape Town. 26 July - 15 August
Erf 81: Two Decades of Living on the Fringe, AVA Gallery, Cape Town
HUSH HUSH, Smith Studio, Cape Town
A Flagrant Arcade in Contemporary Art, Art Africa Fair, Cape Town
SAADA Cape Town Expo, Cape Town. 16 - 19 February
2016
100 Geographies, Society of South African Geographers (SSAG), US Museum
Liminal Geographies, Barnard Gallery
Nano, Barnard Gallery, Cape Town
2015
Against Time, Recontres de Bamako: Biennale De La Photographie - Telling Time, Bamako
Remnants of Place, D-Street Gallery, Stellenbosch
The Mirror in the Ground, CAS Gallery, Cape Town
Current, Smith Studio, Cape Town
Movie Snaps, Cape Town Remembers Differently, District Six Homecoming Center, Cape Town
2014
Viewing Room #03, SMAC Gallery, Cape Town
Plakkers, Brundyn+, Cape Town
The Tierney Fellowship Group Exhibition, MOP6, Michaelis Galleries, Cape Town
Photoville, New York, In association with The Tierney Fellowship
FNB Joburg Art Fair, SMAC Gallery, Johannesburg.
Contemporary Salon on the Rocks - presented by Grizelda Hall, Cape Town
Shop Front And Centre, Infecting the City Public Arts Festival, Cape Town
Cape Town Art Fair, Michaelis School of Fine Art, Cape Town
The Xmas Show, SMAC Gallery, Cape Town
2013
Terminal, Gordon Institute for Performing and Creative Arts interdisciplinary LAND project, Cape Town
SUPER SALE, City Gallery, des Kunstverein Wolfsburg, Germany
Cape Town Art Fair, SMAC Gallery. Cape Town
The Story of the Creative, See | Me Exhibition Space, New York
Point of View: Contemporary South African Photography, Barnard Gallery, Cape Town
HereThere, A Conversation between Michaelis and WITS Masters 2013, Michaelis Galleries, Cape Town
Autumn Group Show, SMAC PLUS, Cape Town
Pentimenti and More, Art.b Gallery, Cape Town
Absa L’Atelier - Regional exhibition. Art b Gallery Bellville, Cape Town
Free Art Party, The Lovell Gallery, Cape Town
Between the Lines, In association with The German-South African Year of Science 2012/2013. Michaelis Galleries, Cape Town
Platform_18_28, Infecting the City Public Arts Festival, Cape Town
2012
Sasol New Signatures Exhibition, Pretoria
Autobiography: Chronicles of Our Times, MOP5. The Allamans Barracks, Castle of Good Hope, Cape Town
Speke Photographic: Exposure Now, Merchants on Long, Cape Town
Speke Photographic, Circa on Jellicoe, Everard Read Gallery, Johannesburg
Pop Up Exhibition, Allderman Gallery, Cape Town
Art a Fares, Youngblood, Cape Town
2011
Dark City, BFA Graduation Exhibition, Michaelis Galleries, Cape Town
2010
States of Perception, California College of the Arts CCA, San Francisco
States, Rosedale Gallery, University of Cape Town