Mary Visser (b.1971) is a Cape Town-based visual artist, known for her large-scale gestural paintings that move between abstraction and figuration. Her work draws upon post-war American Abstraction, German Expressionism and the Japanese aesthetic of wabi sabi. She values qualities such as humour, awkwardness and risk-taking in her practice.

‘I paint large-scale abstract paintings of invented spaces inspired by Cape Town city. I am drawn to surfaces and objects in my environment that reveal their own history and show their human imprint; graffitied walls, weathered sineage and discarded items. Continuing my observations in the studio, I look out for intriguing visual connections in my collection of magazine shards, drawings and visual experiments.

My paintings are not formulaic or predictable, with abstraction allowing me the freedom to carry out my painterly investigations on the canvas in a spontaneous and intuitive manner. Working in a collage-like way of layered forms and lines, I hope to reveal my efforts to mesh outward encounters with inward sensations.’

Visser holds a BFA in drawing and painting from Rhodes University and a Postgraduate Diploma in Art from the University of Cape Town. She has exhibited at Graham Contemporary in Johannesburg and WorldArt, Everard Read and the AVA Gallery in Cape Town.

Her work is in collections both locally and internationally, including the University of Cape Town, Nando’s, HBSC Bank and the New Constitutional Court, Johannesburg.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2021
'Celestial Trampoline', The Yard, Silo District, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town, South Africa

2018
'Funny Things are Everywhere', Association for Visual Arts, Cape Town, South Africa
'Assembly', Everard Read - Circa Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa

2011
'Along these City Streets', Association for Visual Arts, Cape Town, South Africa

2010
'The Weight of Light', The Bay Hotel, Camps Bay, South Africa

2005
'Nocturnes', UCT Irma Stern Museum Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2025
'Terrain', EBONY/CURATED, Franschhoek, South Africa

2024
‘In Conversation: Mary Visser and Sibusiso Ngwazi’, EBONY/CURATED, Cape Town, South Africa
‘Imagine’, WORLDART, Cape Town, South Africa

2023
'Room With a View', Curated by Karen Elkington, EBONY/CURATED, Cape Town, South Africa
'New Day', Graham Contemporary, Hyde Park Corner, Johannesburg, South Africa

2022
'Natural Abstraction', Graham Contemporary, Hyde Park Corner, Johannesburg, South Africa

2020
'Group Show', 131a gallery, Cape Town, South Africa

2019
'Group Show', Eclectica Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa

2018
'Prelude', Worldart Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa

2017
'Summer Show', Everard Read Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
'Out of Nowhere', Smith Studio Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa

2016
'Colours', Imibala Gallery, Somerset West, South Africa

2014
'Small Canvas' Project, Benetton Project (Venice Biennale)

2013
'Possession', Everard Read Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa

2012
'Small Works', Everard Read Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa

2010
'20Squared', Die Dorpstraat Galery, Stellenbosch, South Africa

2008
'New Works' (Mary Visser, Nick Bladen & Marieke Prinsloo), Grande Provence Gallery, Franschhoek, South Africa

1998
'Boudoir Biscuits Exhibition', UCT Irma Stern Museum Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa

COLLECTIONS
University of Cape Town, South Africa
Nando’s Art Collection, South Africa
HBSC Bank Art Collection, United Kingdom
New Constitutional Court, South Africa