Hauser & Wirth announces representation of William Kentridge.
Portrait of William Kentridge by Norbert Miguletz. © William Kentridge. Courtesy of the artist, Goodman Gallery, and Hauser & Wirth.
Hauser & Wirth, in collaboration with Goodman Gallery and Lia Rumma, have announced the joint representation of South African artist William Kentridge. Hauser & Wirth also announced that it will host a solo exhibition for the artist in New York in 2025.
Born in 1955 in Johannesburg, where he still resides, Kentridge has spent five decades developing a versatile practice that spans drawing, sculpture, printmaking, film, theater, and opera. Influenced by his upbringing during the apartheid era, Kentridge’s art grapples with themes of history, power, and memory. Between 1989 and 2003, he earned recognition for nine short animated films made from charcoal drawings.
William Kentridge, Quintet for Oh to Believe in Another World, 2023. Photo by Thys Dullaart Photography. Courtesy of the artist, Goodman Gallery, and Hauser & Wirth.
“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. “Through the diversity, courage, and sheer power of his work, he interweaves themes that are both universal and personal to lead us through the mazes of politics, mythology, literature, and art history. In this way, William has created something simultaneously epic and ephemeral with his art, always finding new approaches to expressing the most challenging ideas.”
In 2016, Kentridge established the Centre for the Less Good Idea in Johannesburg. The interdisciplinary arts space regularly organizes workshops, showcases public performances, and offers mentorship initiatives.
Kentridge’s work can be found in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Broad in Los Angeles, and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. On July 7th, Kentridge’s opera, “The Great Yes, the Great No,” will be presented by the LUMA Foundation in Arles, France, in collaboration with the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence.
