William Kentridge

Biography

Born

Johannesburg, South Africa, 1955

Education

University Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, 1973 – 1976

Johannesburg Art Foundation, Johannesburg, South Africa, 1976 – 1978

École Jacques LeCoq, Paris, France, 1981 – 1982

Solo Exhibitions

2025

Hauser & Wirth, 'William Kentridge. A Natural History of the Studio', New York NY

Yorkshire Sculpture Park, 'William Kentridge. The Pull of Gravity', West Bretton, UK

Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, 'William Kentridge. Listen to the Echo', Dresden, Germany (Travelling Exhibition)

Museum Folkwang, 'William Kentridge. Listen to the Echo', Essen, Germany (Travelling Exhibition)

Goodman Gallery, 'William Kentridge. To Cross One More Sea', Johannesburg, South Africa

2024

Sharjah Art Foundation, 'William Kentridge. A Shadow of a Shadow', Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

A4 Arts Foundation, 'William Kentridge. History on One Leg', Cape Town, South Africa

Luma Foundation, 'William Kentridge. Je n’attends plus', Arles, France

Arsenale Institute for Politics of Representation, 'William Kentridge. Self-Portrait as a Coffee Pot', Venice, Italy

Taipei Fine Arts Museum, 'William Kentridge', Taipei, Taiwan

Galleria Lia Rumma, 'William Kentridge. Waiting To Forget Something', Naples, Italy

Annandale Galleries, 'William Kentridge. Day Will Break More Than Once', Sydney, Australia

Louisiana Museum, 'William Kentridge. The Refusal of Time', Humlebæk, Denmark

Fundació Sorigué, 'William Kentridge', Lleida, Spain

Museo Picasso, 'William Kentridge. More Sweetly Play the Dance', Málaga, Spain

Arsenal Gallery, 'William Kentridge: I am not me, the horse is not mine', Białystok, Polonia

Group Exhibitions

2025

Kunstmuseum Bonn, 'From Dawn Till Dusk: The Shadow in Contemporary Art', Bonn, Germany

2024

Internal Light Art Biennale BWV Wohnquartier, Hildesheim, Germany

Remai Modern, 'Life in Print: William Kentridge and Pablo Picasso', Saskatoon, Canada

Baur au Lac, 'Art in the Park XXII', Zurich, Switzerland

UMOCA Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, 'In Memory', Salt Lake City UT

Bourse de Commerce Pinault, 'Arte Povera', Paris, France

Fondation of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum, 'Tuning In. Acoustique de l’émotion', Geneva, Switzerland

Völklinger Hütte, 'The True Size of Africa', Völklingen, Germany

Singer Laren Museum, 'My World', Laren, Netherlands

Lectures

2024

The Department of History of Art and the Center for Visual Studies, University of Oxford, William Kentridge. Slade Professor of Fine Art 2023/2024, 'William Kentridge. A Natural History of the Studio', Oxford, UK

2022

The Rothschild Foundation Lecture, Benjamin West Lecture Theatre, Royal Academy of Arts, 'Words, Ah Yes, Words. Text and Image', London, UK

Milwaukee Art Museum, 'Finding the Less Good Idea', Milwaukee WI

Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Barbro Osher Theatre, 'To W hat End?', Berkeley CA

Theatrical and Opera Performances

2025

Taipei Performing Arts Center, 'Waiting for the Sibyl', Taipei, Taiwan

Canadian Opera Company, Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, 'Wozzeck', Toronto, Canada

GS Arts Center, 'Sibyl', Seoul, South Korea

GS Arts Center, 'Oh To Believe in Another World', Seoul, South Korea

Zellerbach Hall, CalPerformances, University of California, 'The Great Yes, The Great No', Berkeley CA

The Baxter Theatre, 'Faustus in Africa!', Cape Town, South Africa

The Wallis Center, Bram Goldsmith Theater, 'The Great Yes, The Great No', Los Angeles CA

2024

Luma Foundation, Grande Halle Ouest, 'The Great Yes, The Great No', Arles, France

Adrienne Arsht Center, Knight Concert Hall, 'The Great Yes, The Great No', Miami FL

Gran Teatre del Liceu, 'Oh To Believe in Another World', Barcelona, Spain

Impulstanz Festival, Odeon Theater, 'Ursonate', Vienna, Austria

Impulstanz Festival, Burgtheater, 'The Great Yes, The Great No', Vienna, Austria

Awards & Grants

2025

Académie des Beaux-Arts, Foreign Associate Member, Paris, France

2024

Brown University, Honorary Doctorate, Providence RI

Bibliography

Monographs

2025

Marta, Karen (ed.), 'William Kentridge: Self-Portrait as a Coffee Pot', Zurich: Hauser & Wirth Publishers, 2025, ill.

Kentridge, William, 'William Kentridge. Je n'attends plus', Cologne: Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther und Franz König; Arles: LUMA Arles, 2025, ill. (exh. cat.)

2024

McDonald, John, Krell, Alan (ed.), 'William Kentridge. Day Will Break More Than Once', Sydney: Annandale Galleries, 2024, ill. (exh. cat.)

Clingman, Stephen, Locke, Adrian, Thompson, Rose, 'William Kentridge', Taipei: Taipei Fine Arts Museum, 2024, ill. (exh. cat.)

Artist’s Books & Writings

2020

Kentridge, William, McIlleron, Anne (eds.), 'William Kentridge. Waiting for the Sibyl', London: Koenig Books, 2020, ill.

Kentridge, William, Ng, Aimee, 'Constable's White Horse (Frick Diptych)', New York: The Frick Collection, 2020, ill.

2018

Kentridge, William, 'Message from the Library No. 3. Let Us Try for Once. 15 1/2 Thoughts in the Library' [text of a lecture given by William Kentridge, 9 December 2018], New York: Brooklyn Public Library, 2018

Kentridge, William, 'In Verteidigung der weniger guten Idee. Sigmund Freud Vorlesung 2017' [text of a lecture given by William Kentridge, May 2017], Vienna: Turia + Kant Verlag, 2018

Kentridge, William, 'Seis lecciones de dibujo', Buenos Aires: El Hilo de Ariadna, 2018, ill.

Publications

2024

Den Hartog Jager, Hans, Brentjes, Yvonne, Geraerdts, Marjolein, 'My World', Laren: Singer Laren / Zwolle: Wbooks, 2024, pp. 34-36, ill. (exh. cat.)

2021

Kulturstiftung Basel H. Geiger (ed.), 'Tree Connections. Ein Kunst- und Ausstellungsprojekt von / An art and exhibition project by Klaus Littmann', Berlin: Hatje Cantz, 2021, pp. 218-219, ill. (exh. cat.)

Press

2023

Tallman, Susan, 'What Happens at the Edge?', in: The New York Review of Books, 21 December 2023, ill.

McCoy, Ann, 'William Kentridge. Oh To Believe in Another World', in: The Brooklyn Rail, October 2023, ill.

Boas, Natasha, 'An Interview with William Kentridge. ‘Old Questions Don’t Disappear’', in: The Believer, 26 July 2023, ill.

2022

Ollman, Leah, 'Why Artist William Kentridge Is Embracing Shadows in his New Broad Show', in: Los Angeles Times, 2 December 2022, ill.

Aspden, Peter, 'William Kentridge. ‘The History of the 20th Century Shows Us the Danger of all Claims to Certainty’', in: The Financial Times, 21 October 2022, ill.

Searle, Adrian, 'William Kentridge Review. The Sound and the Fury', in: The Guardian, 20 September 2022, ill.

Nwagbou, Azu, 'Renaissance Man', in: Wallpaper, October 2022, ill. also on the cover