Born in Bloemfontein, South Africa, Larita Engelbrecht lives and works in Cape Town.

Engelbrecht combines discordant images of dislocated figures, natural forms, the curves of modern sculpture and the hard lines of concrete architecture. Blending distinctive visual elements Engelbrecht creates images to challenge our pre-conceived ideas of contemporary culture.

‘Intuition Fee’ combines an intuitive collage practice with the rich traditions of oil painting.

Engelbrecht has been exploring various art-making practices, most recently combining collage and oil painting. From her collection of old books and magazines, Engelbrecht intuitively selects images for the purpose of combining disparate images into unexpected compositions. Coaxed by the surrealists of the early 20th century, these pictorial juxtapositions are, like the elements of drawing combined with it, spontaneous and automatic. The process of collecting books and magazines, are, however, more controlled and purposefully curated. Through the juxtaposition of one picture with another, Engelbrecht encourages us to rethink the significance of the original image in its new context. According to the artist, her work “challenges the viewer to question their own assumptions about culture and aesthetics.”

Larita received both a BA in Fine Arts (2009) and an MA in Visual Art (2012) from the University of Stellenbosch. In 2012, Engelbrecht was invited to an artist residency program at a new media gallery in Finland. Her work has been selected in a number of group exhibitions and art competitions in South Africa, as well as for a travelling exhibition, Making Africa: A Continent of Contemporary Design, hosted by The Vitra.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2019

‘INTUITION FEE’, EBONY/CURATED, FRANSCHHOEK, SOUTH AFRICA

2016

‘MET ANDER OË’, EBONY/CURATED, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

2012

‘EXCESS BECOMING FLESH’, US GALLERY, STELLENBOSCH, SOUTH AFRICA



GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2019

‘IMAGINE THE OPPOSITE’, NO END CONTEMPORARY, JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA

‘A SMALLER SCALE’, EBONY/CURATED, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

2018

‘THE SUMMER EXHIBITION’, EBONY/CURATED, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

2017

‘FROM THE HORSES MOUTH’, EBONY/CURATED, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

‘URBAN AXIS’, ANOTHER ANTIPODES, PERTH, AUSTRALIA

2016

TURBINE ART FAIR, EBONY/CURATED, JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA

2015

‘MAKING AFRICA: A CONTINENT OF CONTEMPORARY DESIGN’, VITRA DESIGN MUSEUM, GERMANY

2014

CAPE TOWN ART FAIR, EBONY/CURATED, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

2013

‘SEVEN DEADLY VIRTUES’, ABSA KLEIN KAROO NATIONAL FESTIVAL, SOUTH AFRICA

2012

‘FLESH’, THE ART BUSINESS, PIEKETBERG, SOUTH AFRICA

‘HUMANEARTH’, US GALLERY, STELLENBOSCH, SOUTH AFRICA

2011

ABSA L’ATELIER ART COMPETITION, ABSA GALLERY, JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA

‘BODIES IN BECOMING’, UNIVERSITY OF STELLENBOSCH ART GALLERY, SOUTH AFRICA

2009

‘ON THE UNCANNY AND THE UNCONSCIOUS’, SALON 91, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA