| Willie’s work is an indictment of our society. It asks us important questions and forces us to come to terms with our own guilt, corruption within our country and potential government accountability. Because of these challenges, it may not always be popular work. About his dog victim work, Bester comments, “We were naïve about the state of things in South Africa, we thought things would be different. We wanted to believe that our culture had changed, because we so badly wanted things to be different so that we could move forward. But it’s impossible to forget the past because it influences our future. This is why I document these events, so that we do not forget. I derive no pleasure from criticizing the present government. How could I? It was this political culture that I helped bring into power. The fact remains that we cannot follow blindly. Someone has to stand up and say ‘enough’. No, it gives me no pleasure, only pain. But I cannot keep quiet. We cannot afford to lose our humanity.” Education and Employment Educated in Montagu, no formal training, mostly self-taught.
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| SOLO EXHIBITIONS | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1982 | Forum, Cavendish Square, Cape Town | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1991 | Gallery International, Cape Town | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1992 | Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg Millpark, Port Elizabeth | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1993 | South African Association of Art (Western Cape), Cape Town | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1994 | Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg (Joint Exhibition with Zwelethu Mthethwa) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1999 | Opere Recenti, Studio d’Arte Raffaelli, Testo di Alberto Fiz, Trento, Italy, 13 May – 30 June Archivio Della Scuola Romana, Introdotto da Achille Bonito Oliva, Roma. 17 May – 22 May. Arte Fiera, Torino, 6 – 11 October 1999. Arte Fiera, Bologna, 27 December – 31 January 2000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2000 | Arti Assortite, Torino, 28 September 2000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2001 | “Who let the dogs out?”, Gallery in the Round, Standard Bank National Arts Festival, presented by the Goodman Gallery. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2001 | Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| SOLO WORKSHOPS | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1993 | Invited artist at the South African National Gallery Annexe, Cape Town | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| GROUP EXHIBITIONS | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1989 | Baxter Gallery, Cape Town | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1990 | Gallery International, Cape Town (Featured Artist) Gallery International, Cape Town (Three Artists) Institute for African Studies, University of Cape Town Jacobs and Liknaitsky Gallery (Inaugural exhibition) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1991 | Operation Hunger Exhibition, Cape Town Dorp Street Gallery, Stellenbosch Festival Gallery International, Cape Town Cape Town Triennial (National Touring Exhibition) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1991 - 2 | “Zabalaza Festival”, Museum of Modern Art, Oxford. (This exhibition travelled to London and other British centres and was subsequently shown in South Africa at the SA National Gallery, CapeTown) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1992 | Primart Gallery, Cape Town Primart Gallery, Cape Town | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1993 | “Incroci del Sud”, an exhibition of works by 27 contemporary South African Artists, Venice Biennale, Italy | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1994 | “Incroci del Sud”, Sala 1, Rome, Italy “Incroci del Sud”, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands Stallion Gallery, Kentucky, USA “Art Contemporain D’Afrique du Sud”, Gallery de Ballens, Ballens, Switzerland “Heimat Project” (together with two other artists), installation in a train at the National Festival of Arts, Grahamstown, South Africa 5th Havana Biennale, Cuba Ludwig Forum, Aachen, Germany Centro de Arte Moderno, Las Palmas | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1995 | “Dialogues of Peace”, Exhibition for 50th Anniversary of the United Nations, Palais des Nations, Geneva Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London “On the Road”, Exhibition by 10 South African Artists, Delfina Studio Trust, London (Part of Africa ’95 Festival) “Die Kleur van Verandering (Aparte Kunst uit Zuid-Afrika)”, Groote Kerk, The Hague, Holland “Chicago Art Fair”, Chicago, USA “Basel Art Fair”, Basel, Switzerland | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1996 | “Simunye (We are One)”, Exhibition by 10 South African Artists, Adelson Gallery, New York “Tradition in Transition”, October Gallery, London “Contemporary Art from South Africa”, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, Germany “Common and Uncommon Ground: South African Art to Atlanta”, City Gallery East, Atlanta, USA “Otro Pais: Escalas Africanas”, Palau de la Virreina, Barcelona, Spain “The Other Journey (Africa and the Diaspora)”, Kunsthalle, Krems, Austria “Seven Artists from the New South Africa”, Boumani Gallery, San Francisco, USA | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1997 | “Lift Off”, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg “South Africa”, Kohn Turner Gallery, Los Angeles, USA “Not Quite a Christmas Show”, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg 1998
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Dakar Biennale, Senegal | “Still in our Land, 1998”, joint exhibition with Zwelethu Mthethwa, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg 1999
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Rafaeli Studios, Trento, Italy | <<REWIND>>FAST FORWARD.ZA, Van Reekum Museum of Modern Art, Appeldoorn, Netherlands “Claiming Art Reclaiming Space – Post Apartheid Art From South Africa”, National Museum of South Africa, Washington D.C., 20 June – 26 September 1999. “Art Salon At The Bay”, Camps Bay Cape Town, November – December 1999 1999 - 2000
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“Artery”, Joao Ferreira Fine Art, Cape Town, December 1999 – January 2000. | “Project Conflux”, Association for Visual Arts, Metropolitan Gallery, Cape Town, 21st December 1999 – 22nd January 2000. 2004 |
“Tremor”, Palais des Beaux Arts, Charleroi, Belgium | “The ID of South African Artists”, Fortis Circustheater, Scheveningen, The Nertherlands . 2005 |
Two person show with Zwelethu Mthethwa, AVA, Cape Town
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AWARDS
| 1991 | Merit Prize, Cape Town Triennial | 1992 | Prix de l’Aigle at the 4th Grand Prix International d’Arts Plastiques de la Ville de Nice, France | This prize was awarded for the most original work in the painting category. Over 200 canvases from 26 countries were submitted in this section. Bester was one of three artists whose work was entered in this competition by the SA Association of the Arts, Western Cape. He was awarded a cup and a certificate. PUBLIC AND CORPORATE COLLECTIONS |
Johannesburg Art Gallery | King George VI Art Gallery, Port Elizabeth University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg University of the Western Cape, Belville, Cape University of South Africa (UNISA), Pretoria Department of National Education, Pretoria Department of Foreign Affairs, Pretoria Cape of Good Hope Bank, Cape Town Rembrandt van Rijn, Stellenbosch, Cape South African Breweries South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC TV), Cape Town South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC TV), Johannesburg Sasol Limited, Johannesburg Sanlam, Cape Town Wooltru, Cape Town Engen, Cape Town Metropolitan Life, Cape Town Human Science Research Council (HRSC), Cape Town Cape Provincial Libraries Foschini Limited, Parow, Cape Town Gencor, SA Limited, Johannesburg Durban Art Gallery, Durban Tatham Art Gallery, Pietermaritzburg Pretoria Art Museum, Pretoria Contemporary African Art Collection, Paris Vodacom, Cape Town. Oceana Fishing Group, Cape Town. Naspers, Cape Town.
Bester’s work is also represented in numerous private collections throughout South Africa and abroad
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