Sanell Aggenbach’s work deals primarily with the intersection of history and private narratives by considering the process of recall and interpretation. Her work displays an accomplished virtuosity as she moves comfortably between the various disciplines
of painting, printmaking and sculpture.
Since 2003, Aggenbach has focused mainly on subverted feminine tropes and feminist themes. In her most recent solo exhibition, Bend to Her Will, she subtly and mischievously reframed the hobbyist art of flower arranging by appropriating the traditionally masculine art of Japanese Ikebana.
Her sculptural work, primarily in bronze, parody Western masterpieces from Michelangelo, Henry Moore, and Warhol to Pierneef and take a refreshing look at these pivotal references from a woman’s perspective.
Born in Cape Town, Aggenbach currently lives and works in Woodstock, Cape Town. Her explorative work has secured her many achievements including winning the Absa L’Atelier Award in 2003. Her work is represented in numerous public and private collections, including Sasol, Absa, Spier, SABC, Red Bull (Austria), the South African National Gallery, 21C Museum in Kentucky (USA) and Anglo Gold.
“My earlier works relied heavily on processing found imagery, rethinking associations and creating new fictions. These works were often an amalgamation of historic references with private narratives and forms part of a process of investigating pathologies and deconstructing the past. My primary intention is to construct subtle paradoxes by introducing a quite humour, either formally or materially.”
of painting, printmaking and sculpture.
Since 2003, Aggenbach has focused mainly on subverted feminine tropes and feminist themes. In her most recent solo exhibition, Bend to Her Will, she subtly and mischievously reframed the hobbyist art of flower arranging by appropriating the traditionally masculine art of Japanese Ikebana.
Her sculptural work, primarily in bronze, parody Western masterpieces from Michelangelo, Henry Moore, and Warhol to Pierneef and take a refreshing look at these pivotal references from a woman’s perspective.
Born in Cape Town, Aggenbach currently lives and works in Woodstock, Cape Town. Her explorative work has secured her many achievements including winning the Absa L’Atelier Award in 2003. Her work is represented in numerous public and private collections, including Sasol, Absa, Spier, SABC, Red Bull (Austria), the South African National Gallery, 21C Museum in Kentucky (USA) and Anglo Gold.
“My earlier works relied heavily on processing found imagery, rethinking associations and creating new fictions. These works were often an amalgamation of historic references with private narratives and forms part of a process of investigating pathologies and deconstructing the past. My primary intention is to construct subtle paradoxes by introducing a quite humour, either formally or materially.”
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Solo Exhibitions:
2019 The Heart Has Many Rooms - Everard Read Gallery, Johannesburg
2017 Bend To Her Will – Whatiftheworld, Johannesburg
2017 Bend To Her Will – Whatiftheworld, Cape Town
2015 Aardklop Festival Artist: ‘Atopia’ - NWU Gallery, Potchefstroom
2013 Familia Obscura - Brundyn Gallery, Cape Town
2011 Some Dance to Remember Some Dance to Forget - Blank Projects, Cape Town
2009 Graceland - Gallery AOP, Johannesburg
2008 Sub Rosa - João Ferreira Gallery, Cape Town
2007 Perfectly Still - Absa Gallery, Johannesburg
2006 Blues and Greys - Art On Paper Gallery, Johannesburg
2005 Fool’s Gold - Bell-Roberts Contemporary, Cape Town
2005 Hoogwater/High Tide - KKNK, Oudtshoorn
2003 Blank - AVA Gallery, Cape Town
2001 From a Netherworld - Bell-Roberts Gallery, Cape Town
2000 Northern Ladies - Art Konsult, New Delhi, India
1998 An Imitator - AVA Metropolitan Gallery, Cape Town
Group Exhibitions:
2018 In The Forests of the Night - Everard Read Gallery, Johannesburg
2017 The Future is Female - 21C Museum Hotels, Louisville, USA
2016 Nano - Barnard Gallery, Cape Town
2016 Transformation - Southern Guild, Cape Town
2015 Foreign Bodies - Whatiftheworld, Cape Town
2014 20 Years of Democracy - Appalachian State University, North Carolina
2014 Paint I - Smac Gallery, Cape Town
2011 Alptraum - Deutscher Kuenstlerbund, Berlin, Germany
2010 Twenty - ontemporary public sculpture, Nirox, Johannesburg
2008 Print ’08: Myth, Memory and Archive’ - Bell-Roberts Gallery, Cape Town
2007 Arcadia - AVA Gallery, Cape Town
2007 Turbulence - Hangar-7, Salzburg, Austria
2006 20 Artists 06’. Contemporary printing - Bell-Roberts Gallery, Cape Town
2005 Sweet Nothings’, new photographic work - Bell-Roberts Gallery, Cape Town
2004 40 Years - University of Stellenbosch, Sasol Art Museum
2004 2nd Spier Outdoor Sculpture Biennial - Stellenbosch
2003 Picnic - Bell-Roberts Gallery, Cape Town
2003 Brett Kebble Art Awards
2003 ABSA L’Atelier - Johannesburg
2003 YDESIRE - Castle of Good Hope, Cape Town
2002 Autogeographie - Millennium Gallery, Johannesburg
2002 Spier Outdoor Sculpture Biennial - Jan Marais Nature Reserve, Stellenbosch
2019 The Heart Has Many Rooms - Everard Read Gallery, Johannesburg
2017 Bend To Her Will – Whatiftheworld, Johannesburg
2017 Bend To Her Will – Whatiftheworld, Cape Town
2015 Aardklop Festival Artist: ‘Atopia’ - NWU Gallery, Potchefstroom
2013 Familia Obscura - Brundyn Gallery, Cape Town
2011 Some Dance to Remember Some Dance to Forget - Blank Projects, Cape Town
2009 Graceland - Gallery AOP, Johannesburg
2008 Sub Rosa - João Ferreira Gallery, Cape Town
2007 Perfectly Still - Absa Gallery, Johannesburg
2006 Blues and Greys - Art On Paper Gallery, Johannesburg
2005 Fool’s Gold - Bell-Roberts Contemporary, Cape Town
2005 Hoogwater/High Tide - KKNK, Oudtshoorn
2003 Blank - AVA Gallery, Cape Town
2001 From a Netherworld - Bell-Roberts Gallery, Cape Town
2000 Northern Ladies - Art Konsult, New Delhi, India
1998 An Imitator - AVA Metropolitan Gallery, Cape Town
Group Exhibitions:
2018 In The Forests of the Night - Everard Read Gallery, Johannesburg
2017 The Future is Female - 21C Museum Hotels, Louisville, USA
2016 Nano - Barnard Gallery, Cape Town
2016 Transformation - Southern Guild, Cape Town
2015 Foreign Bodies - Whatiftheworld, Cape Town
2014 20 Years of Democracy - Appalachian State University, North Carolina
2014 Paint I - Smac Gallery, Cape Town
2011 Alptraum - Deutscher Kuenstlerbund, Berlin, Germany
2010 Twenty - ontemporary public sculpture, Nirox, Johannesburg
2008 Print ’08: Myth, Memory and Archive’ - Bell-Roberts Gallery, Cape Town
2007 Arcadia - AVA Gallery, Cape Town
2007 Turbulence - Hangar-7, Salzburg, Austria
2006 20 Artists 06’. Contemporary printing - Bell-Roberts Gallery, Cape Town
2005 Sweet Nothings’, new photographic work - Bell-Roberts Gallery, Cape Town
2004 40 Years - University of Stellenbosch, Sasol Art Museum
2004 2nd Spier Outdoor Sculpture Biennial - Stellenbosch
2003 Picnic - Bell-Roberts Gallery, Cape Town
2003 Brett Kebble Art Awards
2003 ABSA L’Atelier - Johannesburg
2003 YDESIRE - Castle of Good Hope, Cape Town
2002 Autogeographie - Millennium Gallery, Johannesburg
2002 Spier Outdoor Sculpture Biennial - Jan Marais Nature Reserve, Stellenbosch
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