Welcoming William Kentridge to Hauser & Wirth

‘It is a true honor that William Kentridge has decided to join our gallery,’ says Iwan Wirth, President. ‘William’s virtuosity as an artist, thinker, polymath and mentor of others sets him apart as a creative luminary of our time. Through the diversity, courage and sheer power of his work, he interweaves themes that are both universal and personal to lead us through the mazes of politics, mythology, literature and art history. In this way, William has created something simultaneously epic and ephemeral with his art, always finding new approaches to expressing the most challenging ideas. We are also profoundly inspired by the spirit of collaboration so deeply embedded within his process: in founding the Centre for the Less Good Idea in Johannesburg, he has created a wonderful home for collective experimentation and cross-disciplinary practice and set an example for communality. We look forward to working in close collaboration with Goodman Gallery—a ‘home’ gallery to William for 30 years— and Galleria Lia Rumma and to furthering the mission to expand global awareness of, engagement in and appreciation for Kentridge’s art and values.’

The world premiere of Kentridge’s opera, ‘The Great Yes, the Great No,’ will be presented by LUMA Foundation, Arles, France in partnership with the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence with performances from 7 July, 2024. We look forward to an exhibition with Kentridge at Hauser & Wirth New York in 2025.

About the artist

William Kentridge (born Johannesburg, South Africa, 1955) is internationally acclaimed for his drawings, films, theater and opera productions.

Kentridge’s work has been seen in museums and galleries around the world since his first survey exhibition in 1998 at Palais des Beaux Arts, Brussels, including the Albertina Museum (Vienna), Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea (Turin), Johannesburg Art Gallery, Kunstmuseum Basel, Louisiana Museum (Humlebaek), Musée du Louvre (Paris), Museum of Modern Art (New York), Museum of Contemporary Art Sydney, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (Madrid), Norval Foundation (Cape Town), Royal Academy of Arts (London), Whitechapel Gallery (London) and Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Cape Town). He has participated a number of times in documenta (Kassel) (2012, 2002, 1997) and the Venice Biennale (2015, 2013, 2005, 1999), as well as the Sydney Biennale (2008) and the Istanbul Biennale (1995, 2015).

Kentridge’s opera productions began in 2005 with Mozart’s ‘The Magic Flute,’ which embarked on an international tour of opera houses after opening at La Monnaie in Brussels, Belgium. Subsequent productions include Shostakovich’s ‘The Nose’ and Alban Berg’s operas ‘Lulu’ and ‘Wozzeck,’ and have been seen at opera houses including the Metropolitan Opera (New York), La Scala (Milan), English National Opera (London), Opera de Lyon, Amsterdam Opera, the Sydney Opera House, as well as the KUNSTENFESTIVALDESARTS (Brussels) and the Salzburger Festspiele. Kentridge’s film, ‘Oh To Believe in Another World,’ made to accompany the performance of Shostakovich’s 10th Symphony, premiered at KKL Luzern in 2022 and has since been performed in theaters and at festivals worldwide.

Kentridge’s theatrical productions, performed in theatres and at festivals across the globe, include ‘Waiting for the Sibyl’ (2019), ‘The Head & the Load’ (2018), ‘Ursonate’ (2017), ‘Winterreise’ (2014), ‘Paper Music’ (2014), ‘Refuse the Hour’ (2011) and, in collaboration with the Handspring Puppet Company, ‘Il Ritorno d’Ulisse’ (1998), ‘Ubu & the Truth Commission’ (1997), ‘Faustus in Africa!’ (1995) and ‘Woyzeck on the Highveld’ (1992).

In 2016, Kentridge founded the Centre for the Less Good Idea in Johannesburg: a space for responsive thinking and making through experimental, collaborative and cross-disciplinary arts practices. The center hosts an ongoing program of workshops, public performances and mentorship activities.

Kentridge is the recipient of honorary doctorates from several universities including Yale, University of London and Columbia University. In 2010, he received the Kyoto Prize. In 2012, he was awarded the Commandeur dans l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France and he presented the Charles Eliot Norton Lectures at Harvard University. In 2015, he was appointed an Honorary Academician of the Royal Academy in London. In 2017, he received the Princesa de Asturias Award for the arts and, in 2018, the Antonio Feltrinelli International Prize. In 2019, he received the Praemium Imperiale award in painting in Tokyo. In 2021, he was made a Foreign Associate Member to the French Académie des Beaux Arts, Paris. In 2022, he was presented the Ordine della Stella d’Italia and, in 2023, he received the Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera in London. As the Slade Professor of Fine Art for 2023/2024, Kentridge delivered a series of six lectures at the University of Oxford in January and February 2024.

His work can be found in the collections of public and private museums including Amorepacific Museum of Art (Seoul), Art Gallery of Western Australia (Perth), Art Institute of Chicago, Broad Art Foundation (Los Angeles), Carnegie Museum of Art (Pittsburgh), Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea (Turin), Centre Pompidou (Paris), Fondation Cartier (Paris), Fondation Louis Vuitton (Paris), Fundaçion Sorigue (Lerida), Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, Haus der Kunst (Munich), ICA Boston, Israel Museum (Jerusalem), JAG (Johannesburg), Kunsthalle Mannheim, Kunsthalle Praha (Prague), Kunstmuseum Basel, LACMA (Los Angeles), Louisiana Museum (Humlebaek), Luma Foundation (Arles), MAC (Montreal), MAXXI (Rome), Moderna Museet (Stockholm), MoCA (Los Angeles), MUDAM (Luxembourg), MoMA (New York), Museum of Fine Arts (Budapest), National Gallery of Australia (Canberra), National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa), National Museum of Modern Art (Kyoto), National Gallery of Victoria (Melbourne), Norval Foundation (Cape Town), San Diego Museum of Art, SFMoMA (San Francisco), Sharjah Art Foundation, Sifang Art Museum (Nanjing), Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam), Tate (London), Vehbi Koç Foundation (Istanbul) and Zeitz MOCAA (Cape Town), as well as private collections worldwide.