Chris Soal

Vestige

2022

Chris Soal (b. 1994, South Africa) is an award-winning, emerging artist livingand practicing in Johannesburg. Using unconventional found objects, such as toothpicks and bottle caps, in conjunction with concrete and other industrial materials, Soal negotiates structural impacts on urban living and reflects on ecological concerns, while considering the philosophical and psychological notion of the “self.” Soal’s spatial approach to sculpture reveals a sensitivity to texture, light and form, expressed in an abstract minimalist language. While, conceptually, his works refer to the socio-political context of their making, highlighting the histories embedded in the found material, and utilising them in a way thatchallenges societal assumptions of value. In 2017, Soal graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts (Hons) at the University of Witwatersrand. He has received numerous awards, such as the Claire Edoardo Villa Will Trust Grant (2020), the SEED Award from the South African Foundation for Contemporary Art, (2019) and the PPC ImaginariumAward (2018). He has been awarded residencies by the South African Foundation of Contemporary Art (Knysna, South Africa), by the RAW Material Company (Dakar, Senegal), Montoro12 Artist Residence (Rome, Italy), and by the Nirox Foundation (Cradle of Humankind, South Africa). In 2020 he was a recipient of The Claire and Edoardo Villa Will Trust Grant. He has exhibited in group shows at institutions such as the Nirox Sculpture Park (2021), Iziko National Museum (2020), FRAC MECA, Bordeaux (2019), Stellenbosch University Museum (2018), and Wits Art Museum (2017). Most recently his solo exhibition, As below so above, was held at Whatiftheworld Gallery in 2021and his first solo exhibition in Europe, Sleight and Substance will be held in Brussels with Montoro12 Gallery starting April 2021. Chris Soal was selected as one of ten contemporary artists to participate in the 5th edition of the Dior Lady Art project. Chris Soal’s work has been included in many notable private and public collections, both locally and internationally, among them: The Beth Rudin DeWoody Collection, (The Bunker Artspace), USA; The Braunsfelder Family Collection, Germany; Galila’s P.O.C. - The collection of Galila BarzilaïHollander, Belgium; The Kelly and Scott Mueller Collection, USA, The Sylt Foundation Collection, Germany; Southern African Foundation for Contemporary Art (SAFFCA), South Africa and France; Modern Art Projects, South Africa; First Rand Bank, Corporate collection, South Africa; The Department of Arts and Culture, South Africa; The Rupert Family Collection, South Africa; Barloworld Corporate Collection, South Africa; The Ackerman -Berman Collection, South Africa; The Tollman Family Collection., South Africa, United Kingdom, Collection of Trevor Noah, South Africa, USA, Tisot Art Collection Trust, Italy.