artist profile
Dan Halter
born
1977
lives and works
Cape Town, South Africa
education
B.F.A., Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa, 2001
about the artist
“Fabric” and “fabrication” are the central coordinates anchoring Dan Halter’s topography of art production that spans the arenas of assemblage, collage, video, sculpture and installation. Shredding, incising, tearing then weaving, replacing, layering professed Zimbabwean materials such as national maps, cultural products or local curio with classical literature, statistical documents and custom-made miscellany, he makes clever, cutting commentary on the intimately entwined histories and politics of neighbors Zimbabwe and South Africa. Addressing difficult cross-border dynamics as well as entrenched regional problems with a deeply humanist sensibility, his art achieves the fine balance between intellectual rigor, organic construction and conceptual play. Originally from Harare, Zimbabwe, Halter now lives and works in Cape Town, South Africa. The artist has completed several residencies in recent years: they include the Pro Helvetia residency at the Schule für Gestaltung in Zürich, Switzerland, the Capacete residency of VideoBrasil in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and the Glenfiddich residency in Dufftown, Scotland. He has mounted one-man shows in Milan, Johannesburg, London, Weisbaden and Cape Town, etc. He has participated in numerous exhibitions, fairs and biennials all over the world, such as several editions of the Cape Town Biennale; the 16th and 17th VideoBrasil in São Paulo, Brazil; the 3rd Guangzhou Triennial in China; the 10th Havana Biennial in Cuba; and 7th International Triennial of Contemporary Textile Arts in Tournai, Belgium.