Lady Skollie wins for Visual Arts at the Standard Bank Young Artist Awards 2022 announced on December 1, 2022.
The Standard Bank Young Artist Awards were established in 1981 to celebrate emerging South African artists who live their personal truth through their art and show exceptional talent in their chosen medium but have not yet received recognition and acclaim. From visual art, to dance, jazz, music, theatre and poetry, the Standard Bank Young Artist Awards wnners are given an opportunity; a recognition of creativity, originality, talent, hard work, ambition and imagination – and a platform on which to build in pursuit of new artistic achievements. The winners are also given the opportunity to showcase their work at the National Arts Festival, with substantial financial support provided through Standard Bank.
This year Standard Bank and the National Arts Festival presents six Standard Bank Young Artists for 2022: LADY SKOLLIE (Visual Arts), Koleka Putuma (Poetry), Msaki (Music), Mahlatsi Mokgonyana and Billy Langa (Theatre Duo), Thamsanqa Majela (Dance) and Linda Sikhakhane (Jazz).
Born in Cape town in 1987, Lady Skollie holds a certificate in Business Acumen of Artists and Bachelor of Arts in History of Art and Dutch Literature from the University of Cape Town. Her vibrant, often controversial work has been exhibited both locally and internationally, her solo exhibitions having garnered her recognition as well as a residency abroad. She currently lives in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Skollie uses ink, watercolour and crayon to defy taboos and talk openly about issues of sex, pleasure, consent, human connection, violence and abuse. Her work is simultaneously bold and vulnerable, expressing the joy and darkness of the erotic and the duality of human experience.
Lady Skollie has been named in OkayAfrica’s 100 Women, an annual list that honours women across 10 different fields for their contribution, achievements and influence. In 2017, along with Tschabalala Self and Abe Odedina, the artist contributed artwork for the stage design of a gala performance of The Children’s Monologues, a benefit held by the charitable organisation Dramatic Need, directed by Danny Boyle and held at Carnegie Hall in New York City, NY, USA.
Image courtesy of Tyburn Gallery
She has had solo exhibitions at leading local galleries like Everard Read and has enjoyed residencies at institutions ranging from the Bag Factory in Johannesburg to Eastside Projects in Birmingham (UK). She continued to design 1million units of a R5 coin for South Africa depicting the long serpentine lines of the first democratic voting lines in 1994. Most recently she has been seen in a different role – as interviewer with her fellow artists for DW television show Afrimaxx.
