SHANY VAN DEN BERG
(b. 1958 Riversdale, South Africa)

Shany van den Berg's practice centres on contemporary portraiture and figurative work, and stems from her life as a woman, mother of four children and a professional artist.

Renowned for her technical acumen, subtle symbolism and agility in shifting between portraiture, figurative, abstraction and sculptural work, she explores the critical contemporary themes of womanhood, identity, family, and connectedness to Mother Earth.

Van den Berg's portraiture is most often of women, whose features morph into a composite of the artist and her loved ones, serving as portals to narratives of sacrifice, struggle and ultimately transcendence. The references are delicate and ambiguous: a nude atop a gallery plinth is transposed from stone into flesh and blood, or vice versa; a sheet draped, shroud-like, across an ethereal form emerging from or entering an abyss; hands depicted in gestures of supplication, prayer, self-protection or release; a red scarf or fragile scarlet thread seeming almost to flutter across and beyond the canvas. 

Van den Berg's ethereal oil paintings evoke the mood and texture of Old Master paintings, conveying complex emotions, moods and ideas through meticulous attention to detail, an extraordinary facility with paint and subtle symbolism.

A sense of layering pervades her works, in the imagery itself and through Van den Berg's painterly process. Surfaces are built up of swathes, not painted onto the board but rather, absorbed into it. Shadows are imbued with texture and skins exude an almost viscous sheen. Although unmistakably feminine, some of her forms evoke a sense of animalism through their attenuated bone structure, and an underlying sexuality pervades many of the forms. They suggest recognition, confirmation and the bittersweet knowledge of love, loss and letting go.

Van den Berg has worked as a full-time artist for thirty years. Her practice includes painting on board, linen and found objects, drawing, sculpture, site specific installations, mixed media, three-dimensional work as well as poetry and music.

Van den Berg is a three-time finalist in the BP Portrait Award at London's National Portrait Gallery. Her work is represented in private collections in the UK, across Europe, South Africa and the USA.

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2023
Garden of Her Dreams, Everard Read, Johanneburg South Africa

2022
Her Garden, Everard Read, London, UK

2021
NOS, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa

2019
Dream Pond, Everard Read, London, UK

2018
FLUISTERINGE VANAF 'N LELIEPOEL/ WHISPERS FROM THE LILY POND, Everard Read, Franshhoek, South Africa

2017
(in)filtration of time, CIRCA gallery, Cape Town, South Africa

2015
New works, Everard Read gallery at La Grande Provence , Franschhoek, Western Cape, South Africa

2012
Hinterland, Everard Read, Johannesburg, South Africa

2011
Siel van my Vel, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa

2010
Solo, IS Art at Le Quatier Francais, Franschhoek, South Africa

2008
in gesprek met, Smellick &Stokking, Den Haag, Netherlands

2007
..(h)erken...ken...en... , Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa
gedagtes wat reis, My Own Choice Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands

2006
dwaaltuin, Grande Provence Gallery, Franschhoek, South Africa

2003
construction site, Limeline Design, Cape Town, , South Africa

2001
vlug in tyd, Dorp Street Gallery, Stellenbosch, South Africa

1999
my shadow, my echo, me, Bang the Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2019
Winter, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa
Southern Aspect, Everard Read, London, UK

2018
Winter, CIRCA, Cape Town, South Africa
People and Portraiture, CIRCA, Cape Town, South Africa
Summer, Everard Read, London, UK
Winter, Everard Read London, UK

2017
Summer, Everard Read, London, UK
Winter, CIRCA, Cape Town, South Africa
Summer, Everard Read, Franschhoek, South Africa

2016
Summer, Everard Read, London, UK
Opening Group Exhibition, CIRCA Gallery, London, UK
Winter, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa

2015
Homage, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa
Winter, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa

2014
Summer Season, D-Street Gallery, Stellenbosch, South Africa
Summer of Sculpture III , Mount Nelson Hotel, Cape Town, South Africa
Magicus, D-Street Gallery, Stellenbosch, South Africa

2013
Cape Town Re-Imagined, Suidoosterfees, Cape Town, South Africa
100, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa
Universal Suffering, War Museum, Bloemfontein, South Africa
Femininity, curated by Eva Roer, Germany
SAADA Antique Fair, Pier Rabe Antiques, Franschhoek, South Africa
Hiernamaals/Hereafter, Slee Gallery, Stellenbosch, South Africa
Binnehemels, Red, Black & White, Stellenbosch, South Africa

2012
Small Works, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa
A Summer of Sculpture, Mount Nelson, Cape Town, South Africa

2009
halfmens / heelmens, Red, Black & White Gallery, Pier Rabe
Sex, Power, Money, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa

2008
Confluence,  Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa

2006
Small works, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa
Shany van den Berg / Strijdom van der Merwe, Grande Provence Gallery, Franschhoek Cape Town, South Africa

2005
Three, trio, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa

2000-2002
Shany van den Berg/Alex Hamilton, Bang the Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa

2000
A Celebration of Art & Technology, in aid of the Nelson Mandela Childrens Fund, sponsored by Hewlett Packard, South Africa

COMPETITIONS & PROJECTS

2021
Sanlam Portrait Award Top 40

2019
Sanlam Portrait Award, South Africa

2016
BP Travel Award Finalist, National Portrait Gallery, London, UK
Art Patron of MAD Leadership Foundation

2013
Fellowship granted by the Ampersand Foundation, New York

2011
Bright Ideas Ceramic art / Light from Africa Foundation, Cape Town, South Africa

2010 & 2009
BP Award Portrait Gallery London / finalist

2008
Art exchange / Hubei Institute of Art, China

Artfair Utrecht / My Own Choice

2007
AAF Amsterdam / My Own Choice

2005
Sasol New Signatures / finalist

1990
Corobrick Ceramic Competition Cape Town / finalist