Lucie (Juliet), 2023
Oil on linen, laid on board
41 x 35.5 cm
IAN GROSE
Johannesburg, South Africa, 1985
Lives and works in Cape Town, South Africa
Ian Grose explores painting as a medium of perception and visual thought. His practice combines meticulous technical investigation with a deeply human sensibility, using light, colour, and composition as tools to question how we see and what it means to look today.
Through scenes that oscillate between the intimate and the enigmatic, Grose creates images that appear suspended in time. In these works, precise detail coexists with an atmosphere of ambiguity and strangeness, inviting the viewer into prolonged contemplation.
Interested in the history of painting as much as in its contemporary relevance, Grose conceives the act of painting as a form of resistance to the immediacy of contemporary imagery: a space in which experience, memory, and imagination remain central to the construction of meaning.
He completed a postgraduate degree in painting at the Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town, in 2010, and in 2011 received the Tollman Award for Visual Arts and the Absa L’Atelier Prize. He undertook a six-month residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, and the works produced during this period were exhibited at the Absa Art Gallery in Johannesburg in 2013. In 2019, he completed a three-month residency at SPACED OUT, an institute located on an organic farm northeast of Berlin.
Grose has presented seven solo exhibitions with Stevenson (2013–2023) and has participated in group exhibitions such as Space and Place at EIGEN + ART, Leipzig, Germany (2021); I Have Made a Place at Norval Foundation, Cape Town, South Africa (2021); Gold at Yutaka Kikutake Gallery (2018); Exchange at Galerie Hans Meyer, Düsseldorf (2016); Home Truths: Domestic Interiors from South African Collections at the Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town (2016); I Love You Sugar Kane at the Institute of Contemporary Art Indian Ocean, Mauritius (2016); and Thinking, Feeling, Head, Heart at The New Church Museum, Cape Town (2014).
Two catalogues on his work have been published by Stevenson: Some Assumptions (2014) and Small Paintings (2015).
Johannesburgo, Sudáfrica, 1985
Vive y trabaja en Ciudad del Cabo, Sudáfrica
Ian Grose explora la pintura como un medio de percepción y de pensamiento visual. Su práctica combina una investigación técnica minuciosa con una sensibilidad profundamente humana, utilizando la luz, el color y la composición como herramientas para cuestionar cómo vemos y qué significa mirar en la actualidad.
A través de escenas que oscilan entre lo íntimo y lo enigmático, Grose crea imágenes que parecen suspendidas en el tiempo. En ellas, la precisión del detalle convive con una atmósfera de ambigüedad y extrañeza, invitando al espectador a una contemplación prolongada.
Interesado en la historia de la pintura tanto como en su vigencia contemporánea, Grose concibe el acto de pintar como una forma de resistencia frente a la inmediatez de la imagen contemporánea: un espacio donde la experiencia, la memoria y la imaginación siguen siendo centrales para construir sentido.
Completó un posgrado en pintura en la Michaelis School of Fine Art de la University of Cape Town en 2010, y en 2011 recibió el Tollman Award for Visual Arts y el Absa L’Atelier Prize. Realizó una residencia de seis meses en la Cité Internationale des Arts en París, y las obras producidas durante esa estancia fueron exhibidas en la Absa Art Gallery en Johannesburgo en 2013. En 2019 llevó a cabo una residencia de tres meses en SPACED OUT, un instituto ubicado en una granja orgánica al noreste de Berlín.
Grose ha presentado siete exposiciones individuales con Stevenson (2013–2023) y ha participado en muestras colectivas como Space and Place en EIGEN + ART, Leipzig, Alemania (2021); I Have Made a Place en Norval Foundation, Ciudad del Cabo, Sudáfrica (2021); Gold en Yutaka Kikutake Gallery (2018); Exchange en Galerie Hans Meyer, Düsseldorf (2016); Home Truths: Domestic Interiors from South African Collections en la Iziko South African National Gallery, Ciudad del Cabo (2016); I Love You Sugar Kane en el Institute of Contemporary Art Indian Ocean, Mauricio (2016); y Thinking, Feeling, Head, Heart en The New Church Museum, Ciudad del Cabo (2014).
Dos catálogos sobre su trabajo han sido publicados por Stevenson: Some Assumptions (2014) y Small Paintings (2015).
Selected works
Goodbye Ebony Horse, 2025
Oil on linen
126 x 126 cm
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Karin with yellow hair and rooibos, 2019
Oil on linen laid on board
31 x 25.5 cm
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Johno smoking by the window with Irma Stern, 2023
Oil on linen, laid on board
33 x 36 cm
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Elea trying not to smile, 2023
Oil on linen, laid on board
40.5 x 31 cm
Hold Still, 2024
Oil on linen
107.5 x 133 cm
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Limbo, 2025
Oil on canvas
200 x 150 cm
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A Devil Reads Over My Shoulder, 2025
Oil on canvas
201 x 150.5 cm
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Signal, Noise, 2019
Oil on linen
83.5 x 66.5 cm