Kimberley Gundle was born in 1963 in Johannesburg, South Africa. She completed her Masters in Fine Art at the Slade School of Fine Art, London in 1990. Kimberley is a London based artist.
Gundle has her finger on the pulse of life, she reflects on our fragile existence through her creative practice. Gundle is known for her bold and vibrant use of colour, She works across an extensive range of media including sculpture, ceramics, painting and drawing to create her visual world.
In 2009 on a charity hike in East Africa she encountered the Maasai, seminomadic pastoralists of East Africa. Between 2009 and 2017, Gundle, captivated by the physical adornment of these bold and dignified people living a fragile existence in a changing world, followed in the footsteps of the Maasai, resided in many remote Maasai settlements, making drawings and taking photographs of Maasai communities in both Kenya and Tanzania, absorbing culture and tradition. Her sketches made in these remote settlements were the foundation for her installations of drawings, cameo paintings and ceramics exhibited at Palazzo Bembo during the Venice Biennale 2013, 2015 and 2017.
In 2018 Gundle turned her creative lens back onto London. Prior to lockdown, Gundle sketched daily on the London underground, sketching the people who make up the warp and weft of our society. She works from these sketches to inform her figurative work. During 2020 In this so-called ‘New Normal’ she spent this stretch of time sculpting ceramic portraits and making hand built ceramic 'Companion Cups', informed by these daily sketches.
Gundle feels that in this time of uncertainty, it is hard to hold onto joy, to believe in the strength of the society that we live in, and harder still to imagine what tomorrow might bring. In order to process this uncertainty, Gundle started a visual diary, documenting Life in the Time of Covid -19, an aim to navigate the present and recall the daily impact that this virus has had on our lives. She posts a drawing from this diary each day on Instagram. These images connect her to the outside world in a time of isolation. The visual diary continues. She has recently published a book entitled Navigating the Maze which documents a year of her daily visual thoughts 20/02/2020-20/03/2021 this is a limited edition book each signed and numbered by the artist, each book is accompanied by a unique ceramic talisman, a companion.
Kimberley’s outdoor sculpture entitled Reclaiming Joy. She brings a smile to all those who encounter this brightly coloured fibreglass and metal figurative sculpture.
How is the Weather in Your Head? is the title of Kimberley Gundle’s forthcoming solo exhibition in September 2023 at 67 York street Gallery, London. How is the Weather in Your Head- is at once deeply personal and collective. It is an exhibition about paying attention to our external and internal worlds, about presence, participation, and connection. It is also an exhibition for anyone who has ever wondered about the life of a stranger they glimpsed on the tube or the bus, traversing this busy city - London.
Education
MA Fine Art, Slade School of Art, London, England, 1988 – 1990
Post Graduate Advanced Painting, Michaelis Fine Art, Cape Town, South Africa, 1988
BA Fine Art, Michaelis School of Fine Art, Cape Town, South Africa, 1983 – 1986
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2023 How is the Weather in Your Head? 67 York street Gallery, London, England
2018 Personal Encounters, A&D Gallery, London, England
2017 Heads of Society, German Ambassador’s Residence, London, England
2016 Solo, Candice Berman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
2009 A Slice of London, Art First, London, England
2003 The Shoe Fits, Portraits below the Knee, Art First, London, England
1999 Flower Sellers of London, Art First, London, England
1996 Café Observations, Art First, London, England
1995 Focal Subjects, The Museum Annex, Hong Kong, China
1994 Portraits, Oxford Gallery, Oxford, England
1991 Dreams in the Sand, Peacock Gallery, Belfast, Ireland
Selected Group Exhibitions
2022 Discerning Eye, The Mall Galleries, London, England
2021 Discerning Eye, The Mall Galleries, London, England
2021 Zuleika Gallery, London
2020 Discerning Eye, The Mall Galleries, London, England
2019 Collect International Art Fair for Modern Craft and Design, Saatchi Gallery, London
2017 Personal Structures Open Borders, Venice Biennale, Palazzo Bembo, Venice, Italy
2016 The Discerning Eye, Mall Galleries, London, England
2016 SCOPE International Art Show, Candice Berman Gallery, Basel, Switzerland
2016 That Art Fair, Candice Berman Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
2016 Klein Karoo National Arts Festival, Candice Berman Gallery, Oudtshoorn, South Africa
2015 Crossing Boarders, Venice Biennale, Palazzo Bembo, Venice, Italy
2015 Portraits, Candice Berman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
2013 Culture Mind Becoming, Venice Biennale, Palazzo Bembo, Venice, Italy
2007 – 2008 The Postcard Project, Art First, London, England
1992 – 2004 London Contemporary Art Fair, Art First, London, England
2003 Discerning Eye, The Mall Galleries, London, England
2002 Shoe, City Gallery Leicester, England (National Touring Exhibition)
2001 Starting a Collection, Art First, London, England
2000 10’ x 10’, Art First, London, England
2000 Time Pieces, The Gallery, London, England
1999 EXPO, New York NY
1997 Passion and Sensuality, The Gallery, London, England
1996 Art Miami 96’, Miami FL
1995 Londoners, Art First, London, England
1993 Reading Contemporary Art, Reading, England
1993 Rexel-Derwent Drawing Competition
1992 International Arts Festival, Sauve, France
1992 Artist in Focus, Midlands Contemporary Art, Birmingham, England
1991 The Gordon Gallery, Londonderry, Northern Ireland
1991 A British Exchange, Karen Mckerron Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
1990 Slade Postgraduate Exhibition, Slade Pearson Gallery, London, England
1988 Karen McKerron Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
Selected Collections
St Peters College, Oxford, England
Pentland Group, London, England
South African Breweries, South Africa
Unilever plc. London, England
St. George’s Hospital, London, England
Artist in residence Earls