The Standard Bank Gallery
The Standard Bank Gallery opened in downtown Johannesburg in 1990. Since then it has become one of the city’s leading fine art venues, hosting a revolving permanent collection of significant African and international works, operating a dynamic exhibition programme and serving as a venue for concerts and recitals.
The gallery is operated on a non-commercial basis by Standard Bank, Africa’s largest banking group, as a cultural development initiative. It is best known for its cutting-edge, dynamic exhibition programme, which focuses primarily on showcasing South Africa’s finest contemporary talent.
Photo courtesy Standard Bank Gallery
One of the highlights on the annual exhibition schedule features the incumbent winner of the Standard Bank Young Artist of the Year Award. This prestigious award is bestowed on one artist per year – and their work is often quite controversial!
Many of the competition’s winners have gone on to make names for themselves on the international art scene.
Previous winners include William Kentridge (1987), Jane Alexander (1995), Sam Nhlengethwa (1994), Pippa Skotnes (1993), Tommy Motswai (1992), Andries Botha (1991), and Bonnie Ntshalintshali with Fee Halstead-Berning (1990).
Retrospective exhibitions, featuring some of South Africa’s top artists from days gone by, are also included on the programme. Irma Stern, Gerard Sekoto and Cyprian Shilakoe are among these.
Important contemporary South African artists such as Edoardo Villa, Penny Siopis, Noel Hodnett, Allina Ndebele and Karel Nel have also been exhibited.
From time to time the gallery ventures outside the South African art scene to host exhibitions that feature major international artists. The first of these was the Marc Chagall exhibition in 2000, when the Standard Bank Gallery became the first institution to bring original works by a 20th century European artist to South Africa.
Two years later, the gallery exhibited a collection of works by Joan Miro and, in 2006 hosted the Picasso and Africa exhibition, which explored the influence of African art on Picasso’s work.
Apart from its active exhibition programme, the gallery also hosts portions of Standard Bank’s corporate and African art collections. While the corporate collection’s initial focus was on historically significant works by South African artists, there has been a shift in recent years to include more contemporary pieces.
The earliest artwork in the 1 000-piece collection is the 18th-century painting of Table Bay in Cape Town by Jan de Reyniers. Contemporary works by Kentridge, Marlene Dumas, Alexander, Nhlengethwa, Zwelethu Mthetwa and many others are also included.
The African art collection is made up of cultural items such as figurines, drums, masks, clothing and ritual objects, as well as beadwork, textiles and valuable ceramic pieces. Although it includes pieces from all over Africa, the emphasis is on local artworks. This has helped to keep many valuable South African pieces in the country.
The gallery not only serves as a first-rate space for artistic exhibition, it also has excellent acoustics. Concerts and recitals are held regularly in the main exhibition area.
Hours
Weekdays: 08h00 to 16h30
Saturdays: 09h00 to 13h00
Sundays and public holidays: Closed
Admission
Free
Directions
From the M1 South take the Village Road/Selby exit. At the third traffic light turn left into Sauer Street. Turn right into Frederick Street. The gallery is on the next corner (with Simmonds Street). The parking entrance is around the back of the gallery in Harrison Street.
