Sean Slemon

(b. 1978, South Africa)

Seán Slemon is a South African artist from Cape Town, living and working in Brooklyn, New York since 2005. He is recognized for addressing socio-political issues pertaining to the commoditization and distribution of natural resources. His examination of how land, light and street trees are co-opted to create advantage or discriminate underscores the active and passive decisions we make as a society. The result is an intense interrogation of public vs. private property, its ownership, and the impact this distribution can have on people’s lives.

Formally trained in sculpture, Slemon now incorporates installation, drawing and photography, seeking media that reinforce the concept. Embedding materials such as chalk, soil and concrete help to build physical and ideological layers and create theoretical conflicts. He primarily builds and fabricates sculptures himself using gypsum, fiberglass and other materials; however, recent projects have employed other fabrication techniques, using 3D computer modeling and working with industrial fabricators to produce works on a larger and more complex scale. 

Slemon obtained an MFA from Pratt Institute in New York and a BFA from Michaelis School of Fine Arts at the University of Cape Town. He has been featured in numerous publications, and completed residencies at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine, and Chashama in New York. He has been awarded grants from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts in New York and the National Arts Council of South Africa; and won the 2005 Sasol New Signatures Award for emerging artists in South Africa.

Slemon’s work has been shown in the U.S., Europe and South Africa. Major site specific installations include Uplift: The Mountain (2008) at the Palazzo delle Papesse in Siena, and The Light at 7:00 am (2009) for No Longer Empty’s Reflecting Transformation show in Chelsea, NY. Most recently, Goods for Me (2011) was featured at Art Miami in the THINK BIG! show, curated by LaRete Art Projects. 

In 2014 Slemon completed a commission for First National Bank; a series of five public sculptures for their Johannesburg Bank City precinct. He recently staged his third solo exhibition at MagnanMetz Gallery in New York in 2015, Origin Unknown (Africa). 

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2015
Origin Unknown (Africa), MagnanMetz Gallery, September, New York

 2012
New Work: Sean Slemon, Nirox Projects, Johannesburg, South Africa

 2011 
The Sun Stands Still, Magnan Metz Gallery, New York, NY.

2010
In the Red/In the Black, Brodie/Stevenson Gallery, Johannesburg, S.A.

2008 
Block 700, Magnan Projects, New York, NY.

2007 

Public Property, Central Utah Arts Center, Utah.

 2006 

Solid Light, David Krut Arts Resource, Johannesburg, South Africa.

 2005 
Katrina and the Five Boroughs, David Krut Projects, New York, NY.
Joburg One to Eleven, The Premises Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Uplift: The Premises Mountain, The Premises Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa.

The Mountain and The City, Outlet Gallery, Pretoria, South Africa.

Selected Group Exhibitions

2015

Empire Everard-Read Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa

Winter Sculpture Fair, Nirox Sculpture Park, South Africa

2014

Play, curated by Jayne Crayshaw-Haley, Nirox Sculpture Park, South Africa

Art Week Joburg, Maboneng Precinct, Johannesburg, South Africa

Magnan Metz Group Exhibition: Destination Unknown, Magnan Metz Gallery, New York, NY

2011 

Don’t Panic, Durban Art Gallery, Durban, South Africa.

2010 

Announcing Magnan Metz, Magnan Metz Gallery, New York, NY.

2009 

Reflecting Transformation, No Longer Empty, curated by Manon Slome.

Map South Africa: African Perspectives and the Heart of the African City, Pretoria, South Africa.

Forever Summer, Denise Bibro Fine Art curated by Scott Malbaurn.

2008

ZA Giovane arte dal Sudafrica, Palazzo delle Papesse, Siena, Italy.

2007 

Works on paper-an exhibition of prints created in the David Krut Print workshop, UNISA Art Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa.

2006 

Contour-the Definitive line, curated by Jon Coffelt, Schedler Minchin Fine Art, Birmingham, Alabama.

2005 

Sasol New Signatures Exhibition:  Snowflake, Aardklop Festival, Potchefstroom, South Africa.

Sasol New Signatures 2005, Pretoria Art Museum, Pretoria, South Africa.

2004

  Absolut Secret 9, Association of Visual Arts, Cape Town.

2003 

 Picnic, Brendan Bell-Roberts Gallery, Cape Town.

2002 

Spier Outdoor Sculpture Biennial, Stellenbosch, South Africa.

2000

 Softserve ll, South African National Gallery, Cape Town.

Awards and Grants

2011 

Artists Lecture, Artists Now Lecture series, University of Milwaukee, Wisconsin

2009

  Foundation for Contemporary Arts, Emergency Artists Grant

2007 

National Arts Council of South Africa-Study Bursary

2005 

Sasol New Signatures Award

Sasol New Signatures Judges Merit Award

Residencies

2007 

Chashama Studio residency program: Brooklyn Army Terminal.