Guy Du Toit
“My objects come from my immediate environment, selected for their non-heroic, open-ended meaning. Bells, for instance, may refer either to slavery or liberty. My overriding concern is that of reality and illusion; the fusing of Western and African realities is somehow reflected in this ambiguity.”
Guy du Toit uses a wide range of media in his sculptures, including bronze, stone, wood and steel, and draws in pen, ink and charcoal. He has exhibited extensively, both locally and internationally, and has been consistently supported by private and public collectors, institutions, academics and fellow artists.
Honoured with several awards, he curates and adjudicates exhibitions and lectures at a number of institutions, including Pelmama Academy in Soweto, Pretoria University, Johannesburg and Pretoria Technicons, and the Johannesburg School of Art, Ballet, Drama and Music. He gives workshops throughout South Africa and has been involved in community projects, seminars and symposia.
The past few years have increasingly been spent on private and public commissions and in working closely with artists and businesses, especially those involved in design, communications, architecture, advertising and entertainment. Guy currently teaches part-time at the University of Pretoria and works full-time from his new home and studio in Zwavelpoort.
Guy du Toit’s apparent irreverence can obfuscate the fact that he is undoubtedly one of South Africa’s most accomplished sculptors. “Liberated” (as he says) by the advent of democracy in South Africa from having to concern himself and his art with the notions of identity, he has happily turned his attention to “less provincial” pursuits like revelling in form, concept and media for their own sakes. Du Toit uses the unexpected juxtaposition of bronze casts of universal, everyday found (and made-to-look-found) objects to invite his audience to invent dialogue themselves.
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