On the Arts Round Up, Curator at the Norval Foundation, Carmen Joubert, provides the context and significance of the Kate Gottgens solo exhibition Unsteady Realms which opened this week in Gallery 1.
Listen to the Arts Round Up on Fine Music Radio FMR 101.3fm on Fridays at 12:45
Carnmen Joubert, seen above, tells us that this is the first solo institutional exhibition of the work of Kate Gottgens in South Africa, and something that the Norval Foundation has wanted to do for some time. It is being held in Gallery 1, which is the perfect space, as you can control the light and the paintings really come alive. They have a very magical quality in that space. Carmen has been vey happy and lucky to have worked with Kate and the Goodman Gallery for the past year. This has also involved speaking to lenders who have and enjoy Kate’s work. Some works are more than a decade old, such as Milk Teeth.
Milk Teeth
The work shows women or children in white dresses, in a field, and is a perfect example of how her practice began to shift in a way that is more instinctive. Movement is so significant, as if they are dancing. All her paintings have this quality of movement.
Kate rarely uses black, so all of the dark colours are mixed with different colours to achieve the dark hues. This is reflected in the two 2026 paintings that are on exhibition. Both are on a larger larger scale, and Carmen refers to the one work shown below.- Ferrying Souls. It has this quality about it because she works from photographs and photographic archives. It has this quality that almost looks like a light leak on the painting. It becomes translucent and as you are drawn into the painting, time becomes more static.
Ferrying Souls
You really need to visit the Norval Foundation and experience Unsteady Realms, the solo exhibition by Kate Gottgens, who has already had solo exhibitions in Belgium, New York and London.
WHAT: Unsteady Realms – Kate Gottgens
WHERE: Norval Foundation, 4 Steenberg Rd, Tokai, Cape Town 7945
WHEN: opened on 15 September 2026.
INFO: T 087 654 5900 | E info@norvalfoundation.org | VISIT | Instagram @norvalfoundation | Facebook NorvalFoundation | LinkedIn NorvalFoundation | see also Norval Foundation Presents Unsteady Realms by Kate Gottgens
The WHAT, WHY & WHERE of the
arts scene in around Cape Town
see the 2026 art craft + museums map
and listen in to theÂ
Arts Round Up on Fridays @12:45
on Fine Music Radio FMR 101.3fm
The FMR App makes it even easier to tune into the Arts Round Up on Fridays! i-Phone HERE | Android HERE
Another reason Cape Town is placed 3rd in Time Out’s World’s Best Cities for Culture!
