Kay Hassan

(b.1956, Johannesburg, South Africa, lives in Johannesburg)

Kay Hassan rose to prominence in the late 1980s during a period of significant change and innovation in South African art. In a diverse practice, Hassan often fuses technology with discarded materials to comment on contemporary society in South Africa. In 1978-1980, Hassan studied Fine Art at the Evangelical Lutheran Church Art Centre, Rorke’s Drift. From 1982 to 1986, he initiated and taught fine art classes at the Alliance Française in Soweto, Johannesburg. Following that he received a French government scholarship to study printmaking with S.W. Hayter at Studio 17 in Paris. In 1988-1989, he was a guest student at the Schule für Gustaltung in Basil, Switzerland. Hassan was a recipient of the first Daimler Chrysler Award for South African Contemporary Art in 2000.

Some of his recent solo exhibitions include: Linguaggi del Mondo: Languages of the World at the 53rd Venice Biennale, Venice, 2009; Recent Photographs, Jack Shainman Gallery, NY, 2008; Urbanation, Johannesburg Art Gallery, 2008; Fixing Time, Smac Gallery Stellenbosch, South Africa, 2007; Kay Hassan, MoBa gallery, Brussels, 2006; Kay Hassan, Wertz Contemporary, Atlanta, 2006; Kay Hassan, Kunsthalle Bern, Switzerland, 2003. His work was included in group exhibitions in SMAC Art Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa, 2011; Stellenbosch, South Africa, 2011; Daimler Contemporary, Haus Huth, Berlin, Germany, 2010; SMAC Art Gallery, Stellenbosch, South Africa, 2010; Nirox Foundation, Cradle of Humankind, South Africa, 2010; Stenersenmuseet, Oslo, Norway, 2009; Stedelijk Museum CS, Amsterdam, 2008.