Biography

Marlise Keith was born in Christiana in 1972.  Marlise is currenly situated in Cape Town and draws primarily in acrylic inks on paper and board. Her work was described by critic Melvyn Minnaar of the Cape Times (26 June 2008) as ” The glorious and mysterious things of [a] fleeting world [is] what Marlise Keith uses to define her astonishing individual, complicated visual tales. An artist with a “…brooding, vivid original voice”.

Keith studied BA Fine Arts at the University of Pretoria which was completed in 1995 and completed her Master’s Degree in Fine arts at the University of Stellenbosch in 2000. To keep the wolf from the door, she taught art at high school level and later was head of the Production Design Department at AFDA, a tertiary film school before finally committing to do art full time in 2006. She has participated in various group shows nationally and abroad.

Her first solo show was in 2000. Keith’s works can be found in various collections in South Africa, America, Australia, Britain, France, Germany and Sweden. She has participated in several competitions, was a top ten finalist in the Absa L’Atelier in 2007 and won the Vuleka (means “to open doors” in Xhosa) in 2006. The prize was a trip to Paris which she visited in July and August 2007.

Exhibitions

2000: DC Art, Fugitive Pieces, which formed part of the Cape Town City Festival. This exhibition was covered by an interview on Fine Music Radio, and a review by Cobus van Bosch of the Burger.

2001: DC Art, An Apology to my Mother, which was a selection of drawings.

2007: Kners, at the AVA in September this year.

2008: Afrikaner Dogters Sukkel Suutjies, Worldart Johannesburg.

2008: Hungry Eyes, ABSA Johannesburg.

2009: Soak, Worldart, Cape Town.

2009: Dro! op ‘n Dreskas, ArtB, Bellville.

2010: Afrikaan:Accidental Harvest.

Competitions and Awards

1995: The Thembisa Fine Arts Awards, Kempton Park & Sasol New Signatures, Pretoria

1996: The Volkskas Atelier, Pretoria, and the Sasol New Signatures, Pretoria.

1997: The Sasol New Signatures, Pretoria.

2006: Two works were selected for the ABSA L’Atelier.

2006: Winner of the Sanlam Vuleka Art Competition.

2007: Top ten finalist  for the ABSA L’Atelier.

2008: Selected for the ABSA L’Atelier.