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BIoGRAPHY
One of the most influential and important photographic artists of the 21st century, Roger Ballen’s photographs span over forty years. His strange and extreme works confront the viewer and challenge them to come with him on a journey into their own minds as he explores the deeper recesses of his own.
Roger Ballen was born in New York in 1950 but for nearly 40 years he has lived and worked in South Africa. His work as a geologist took him out into the countryside and led him to take up his camera and explore the hidden world of small South African towns. At first he explored the empty streets in the glare of the midday sun but, once he had made the step of knocking on people’s doors, he discovered a world inside these houses which was to have a profound effect on his work. These interiors with their distinctive collections of objects and the occupants within these closed worlds took his unique vision on a path from social critique to the creation of metaphors for the inner mind. After 1994 he no longer looked to the countryside for his subject matter finding it closer to home in Johannesburg.
Over the past thirty five years his distinctive style of photography has evolved using a simple square format in stark and beautiful black and white. In the earlier works in the exhibition his connection to the tradition of documentary photography is clear but through the 1990s he developed a style he describes as ‘documentary fiction’. After 2000 the people he first discovered and documented living on the margins of South African society increasingly became a cast of actors working with Ballen in the series’ Outland (2000, revised in 2015) and Shadow Chamber (2005) collaborating to create powerful psychodramas.
The line between fantasy and reality in his subsequent series’ Boarding House (2009) and Asylum of the Birds (2014) became increasingly blurred and in these series he employed drawings, painting, collage and sculptural techniques to create elaborate sets. There was an absence of people altogether, replaced by photographs of individuals now used as props, by doll or dummy parts or where people did appear it was as disembodied hands, feet and mouths poking disturbingly through walls and pieces of rag. The often improvised scenarios were now completed by the unpredictable behaviour of animals whose ambiguous behaviour became crucial to the overall meaning of the photographs. In this phase Ballen invented a new hybrid aesthetic, but one still rooted firmly in black and white photography.
In his artistic practice Ballen has increasingly been won over by the possibilities of integrating photography and drawing. He has expanded his repertoire and extended his visual language. By integrating drawing into his photographic and video works, the artist has not only made a lasting contribution to the field of art, but equally has made a powerful commentary about the human condition and its creative potential.
His contribution has not been limited to stills photography and Ballen has been the creator of a number of acclaimed and exhibited short films that dovetail with his photographic series’. The collaborative film I Fink You Freeky, created for the cult band Die Antwoord in 2012, has garnered over 125-million hits on YouTube. He has taken his work into the realms of sculpture and installation, at Paris’ Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature (2017), Australia’s Sydney College of the Arts (2016) and at the Serlachius Museum in Finland (2015) is to name but a few. The spectacular installation at Les Rencontres d’Arles 2017, “House of the Ballenesque” was voted as one of the best exhibitions for 2017. In 2018 at the Wiesbaden Biennale, Germany, another installation “Roger Ballen’s Bazaar/Bizarre” was created in an abandoned shopping centre.
Ballen’s series, The Theatre of Apparitions (2016), is inspired by the sight of these hand-drawn carvings on blacked-out windows in an abandoned women’s prison.
Ballen started to experiment using different spray paints on glass and then ‘drawing on’ or removing the paint with a sharp object to let natural light through. The results have been likened prehistoric cave-paintings: the black, dimensionless spaces on the glass are canvases onto which Ballen has carved his thoughts and emotions. He also released a related animated film, Theatre of Apparitions, which has been nominated for various awards.
In September 2017 Thames & Hudson published a large volume of the collected photography with extended commentary by Ballen titled Ballenesque Roger Ballen: A Retrospective.
Halle Saint Pierre in Paris opened an exhibition September 6th 2019 titled The World According to Roger Ballen. Thames & Hudson published the book in French and English to accompany the show. His work took over the entire space for more than a year closing in January 2021. The World According to Roger Ballen has since been successfully exhibited at Jakopic Gallery in Ljubljana, Slovenia; as well as the Kunstmuseum Den Haag, The Hague.
In October 2020, Hatje Cantz released Roger the Rat which was produced in Johannesburg between 2015 and 2020. Here Ballen creates and documents a part-human, part-rat creature who lives an isolated life outside of mainstream society. This book presents the cycle of photographs in the form of an impressive show that keeps the reader reflecting long after the last page. Ballen also produced a film that accompanies the book launch during October 2020.
Roger Ballen has published over 25 books internationally. His works are in more that 50 of the most important international museum collections.
In the fall of 2022, Thames and Hudson released a second volume of Ballenesque Roger Ballen: A Retrospective in paperback.
Roger Ballen was one of the artists that represented South Africa at the Venice Biennale Arte 2022 in Italy
AWARDS | RECOGNITIONS
2019 Lifetime Achievement Award, Bokeh SA Awards
2018 Honorary Doctor of Art and Design, Kingston University, United Kingdom
2017 The Asia Pacific Brands Foundation Legendary Award
2014 Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin, Edition 46, Artist of the Year, published on 14 November
2012 Best Music Video, I Fink U Freeky, Plus Camerimage International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography in Bydgoszcz, Poland
2012 I Fink U Freeky, Award for best music video at the 20th Short Vila do Conde International Film Festival, Portugal
2010 Finalist – Lucie Awards, Curator/Exhibition of the Year: Roger Ballen: Photographs 1982 – 2009. Curated by Dr. Anthony Bannon for the George Eastman House, Rochester, New York.
2006 Art Directors Club Award Photography
2005 The Selma Blair Witch Project, New York Times Magazine, 31 October
2004 Top 10 Exhibition, Matthew Higgs, Artforum
2002 Citigroup Prize, finalist, UK
2002 Photographer of the Year, Rencontres d’ Arles
2002 Top 10 Exhibition, Vince Aletti, Artforum
2001 PhotoEspana, Best Photographic Book of the Year, Spain
2001 Photo-eye, Best Documentary Title, Best Photography Books of 2001
2000 Sani Festival, Best Solo Exhibition, Greece
2001 Special mention: UNICEF Photo of the Year
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025 Vestfossen Kunstlaboratorium, Oslo, Norway
2025 Mario Giacomelli. The photographer and the artist, Palazzo Espozioni, Rome, Italy
2025 Mattatoi, Rome, Italy
2025 Roger Ballen. Spirits and Spaces, BUILDING Milano, Italy
2025 Who Lives There, Villa Medici, Rome, Italy
2025 Suseong Artpia, Daegu, Korea
2025 Museum Gugging, Vienna, Austria
2024 Roger Ballen Venice Apparitions, SpazioEventi La Toletta, Venice, Italy
2024 Ballen by Ballen, Galleria Giampaolo Abbondio, Todi, Italy
2024 Tales of Wonder, Camara Oscura, Spain
2024 The Uncanny Lens / La Lente Inquiétente, with Peter-Joel Witkin, Castel Ivano, Trentina, Italy
2023 Valletta Contemporary, Malta
2023 Fotografiska, Tallinn, Estonia
2023 Baroque Gallery, Chernivtsy, Ukraine
2023 Galerie Les Douches, Paris, France
2023 Christophe Guye Gallery, Zürich, Switzerland
2023 Haihui Modern Art Museum, China
2023 Valerius Gallery, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
2023 Museum Tinguely, Basel, Switzerland
2023 Hungarian House of Photography/Mai Mano House, Budapest, Hungary
2023 Galleria Lume, Sao Paulo, Brasil
2022 Galleria Lume, Sao Paulo, Brasil
2022 diChroma photography, Madrid, Spain
2022 Senigallia City of Photography, Senigallia, Italy
2022 Fotomuseum Den Haag, Netherlands
2022 Venice Biennale Arte 2022 “The Milk of Dreams”, Venice, Italy
2021 Fotomuseum Den Haag, Netherlands
2021 National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens, Greece
2021 Jakopič Gallery, Ljubljana, Slovenia
2021 Portugal Centre of Photography, Oporto City, Portugal
2020 The Florida Museum of Photographic Arts, USA
2020 Thessaloniki Museum of Photography, Greece
2020 Artco Gallery Berlin
2020 Halle St Pierre, Paris, France
2020 Karsten Greve, Paris, France
2020 Francisco Carolinum, Austria
2020 Camara Oscura, Spain
2019 Roger Ballen Bilder & Bretter, Berlin, Germany
2019 Center of Photography, Montevideo, Uruguay
2019 Centrale for Contemporary Art, Brussels, Belgium
2019 Galleria Carla Sozzani, Milan, Italy
2019 Galerija Fotogafija, Slovenija
2019 Halle St Pierre, Paris, France
2019 Karsten Greve, Paris, France
2019 Latvian Museum of Photography, Latvia
2018 ARTCO Gallery, Aachen – Alter Ego
2018 Center of Photography, Montevideo, Uruguay
2018 Centro Cultural Kavlin, Uruguay
2018 City Art Gallery, Plovdiv, Bulgaria
2018 El Centro de Extension Alfonso Lagos (CECAL UdeC), Chile
2018 Fahey/Klein Gallery, Los Angeles, United States
2018 Futuredome Le Dictateur, Milan, Italy
2018 Galeria Senda, Barcelona, Spain
2018 M. Contemporary, Sydney, Australia
2018 Modern Art Museum Gebre Kristos Desta Center, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
2018 Museu Fotografia Fortaleza, Brazil
2018 Museum of Fine Arts Ekaterinburg Foto Summer, Russia
2018 National Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria
2018 Photo18 Zurich, Switzerland
2018 PH Photo Centre, Cape Town, South Africa
2018 School of the Photographic Arts, Ottawa, Canada
2018 Wiesbaden Biennale, Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden, Germany
2017 Akershus Kunstsenter, Lillestrom, Norway
2017 Arken Museum of Modern Art, Ishoj, Denmark
2017 Aura Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan
2017 Biennial Fotografica Bogota, Columbia
2017 Caixa Cultural Brasilia
2017 Centro Cultural La Cúpula, Mérida, Mexico
2017 The Centro Cultural Matucana 100, Santiago, Chile
2017 Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Sedalia, United States
2017 Emon Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2017 La ERRE Cultural Soace, Guatemala
2017 Flair Gallery, Arles, France
2017 Galeria Principal of the Caixa Cultural Brasilia, Brasil
2017 Galerie Alex Daniels – Reflex Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2017 Gallery La Cupula, Merida, Mexico
2017 Gallery Momo, Cape Town, South Africa
2017 Gamma Galeria, Guadalajara, Mexico
2017 Guandong Museum, China
2017 Guerrilla Zoo, London, UK
2017 Hamiltons Gallery – London, United Kingdom
2017 Jingdezhen Tao Xichuan Museum, Jiangxi, China
2017 John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota Florida, United States
2017 M97 Gallery. Shanghai, China
2017 Museo Marte, El Salvador
2017 Photomuseo National Museum of Photography, Bogota, Colombia
2017 Origins Centre Association, Johannesburg, South Africa
2017 Les Rencontres de la Photographie, Arles
2017 Saint Moritz Art Masters, Switzerland
2017 Stadtmuseum + Kunstsammlung Jena, Jena, Germany
2017 Tauranga Art Gallery, Tauranga, New Zealand
2017 Te Uru Waitakere Contemporary Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
2017 Yu Deyao, China
2017 Zeitz MOCAA, Cape Town, South Africa
2016 Anzenberger Gallery, Handmade Show, Austria
2016 Aura Gallery, China
2016 Barbado Gallery, Lisboa, Portugal
2016 Carpentier Gallery, Berlin, Germany
2016 Central Academy of Fine Art Museum, Beijing
2016 Centro Fotografico Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Mexico
2016 City Gallery Palffy Palais, Bratislava, Slovakia
2016 Etherton Gallery, Tucson, United States
2016 Fototeca, Monterrey, Mexico
2016 Foto Museo de Cuatro Caminos, Mexico City
2016 Galleria Massimo Minini, Brescia, Italy
2016 Gallery Momo, Cape Town
2016 Gallery Momo, Johannesburg
2016 Hamilton Gallery, London, UK
2016 Hydra and Fotografia, Mexico
2016 Izzy Gallery, Toronto, Canada
2016 James Fuentes, New York City, United States
2016 João Barbado – Lisboa, Portugal
2016 Museo Arocena ,Torreón, Mexico
2016 Museum Dr Guislain Gent
2016 Museum of Contemporary Art, Istanbul Turkey
2016 Natalie and James Thompson Art Gallery, San Jose
2016 State University, San Jose, United States
2016 Photokina, Cologne, Germany
2016 SIPF Gillman Barracks, Singapore
2016 SNAP! Gallery, Orlando, Florida, United States
2016 Southeast Museum of Photography, Daytona, United States
2016 Sunaparanta, Goa Centre for the Arts, India
2016 Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney, Australia
2016 TEA Tenerife Espacio de las Artes, Canary Islands
2016 Von der Heydt-Kunsthalle, Wuppertal-Barmen
2016 Wei-Ling Contemporary, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2016 Zemack Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel
2015 Bogotá Photo Festival, Bogotá, Colombia
2015 CAFAM, Beijing, China
2015 Chazen Museum of Art, Wisconsin, United States
2015 David Krut Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
2015 Frigoriferi Milanesi, Milan, Italy
2015 Fried Gallery, Pretoria, South Africa
2015 Galerie Karsten Greve, Köln, Germany
2015 Galerie Rudolphe Janssen, Masks, Brussels, Belgium
2015 Galerie Senda, Barcelona, Spain
2015 Kafka House, Prague, Czech Republic
2015 Kyotographie, Kyoto, Japan
2015 La Fabrica, Madrid, Spain
2015 Montserrat, Barcelona, Spain
2015 Museu de Arte Contemporânea, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil
2015 Museum of Image, Braga, Portugal
2015 Photoink, New Delhi, India
2015 Pori Art Museum, Pori , Finland
2015 Serlachius Museum, Mänttä, Finland
2014 Atlas Sztuki, Lodz, Poland
2014 Christophe Guye Galerie, Zurich, Switzerland
2014 Circa Gallery, Johannesburg
2014 Festival de la Luz, Buenos Aires
2014 Fotografiska, Stockholm, Sweden
2014 Galerie Karsten Greve, Paris, France
2014 Galerie Karsten Greve, One Man Show “Asylum of the Birds”, Paris Photo, France
2014 Kulungwana, Maputo, Mozambique
2014 Kunst- und Kulturzentrum Monschau, Aachen, Deutschland
2014 Moscow Media Centre, Moscow Russia
2014 Musée Nicéphore Niépce, Chalon-sur-Saône, France
2014 Museo d’Arte Contemporanea di Roma, Rome, Italy
2014 Museu Oscar Niemeyer, Brazil
2014 Museum Dr. Guislain, Gent, Belgium
2014 Museum Villa Stuck, Munich, Germany
2014 Oliewenhuis Art Museum, Bloemfontein, South Africa
2014 Paris Photo, Grand Palais, Paris, France
2013 Belfast Photo Festival, Belfast, Northern Island
2013 Galerie Clairefontaine, Luxembourg
2013 Johannesburg Art Fair, South Africa
2013 Maison De L’Image Documentaire, The CèTávoiR Association, Paris, France
2013 Museum of Old and New, Hobart Australia
2013 Nikolaj Copenhagen Contemporary Art Center, Denmark
2013 Photoink, New Delhi, India
2013 Pingao International Photography Festival, China
2013 Palm Springs Art Museum, California, USA
2013 Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington DC, USA
2013 Westlicht, Schauplatz fur Fotografie, Vienna, Austria
2012 Erdmann Contemporary & the Photographers Gallery za, Cape Town, South Africa
2012 Guate Festival, Guatemala de la Asunción, Guatemala
2012 Kleinschmidt Fine Photographs, Wiesbaden, Germany
2012 Kunstalle, Vienna, Austria
2012 Manchester Art Museum, England
2012 Marta Herford Museum, Herford, Germany
2012 Musee de l Elysee, Lausanne Switzerland
2012 Museu de Arte Moderna, Rio de Janiero, Brazil
2012 Northwest University Museum, Potchestroom, South Africa
2012 Novosibirsk Art Museum, Russia
2012 Rosphoto, St. Pieterburg, Russia
2012 Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Israel
2011 Angkor Photo Festival, Cambodia
2011 Fahey Klein, Los Angles, California
2011 Fondazione Terre Medicee, Seravezza, Italy
2011 Galerie Alex Daniels – Reflex Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2011 Galleri Tom Christoffersen, Copenhagen, Denmark
2011 Mannheim Ludwigshafen Heidelberg, Germany
2011 Le Mois de la Photo à Montréal, Canada
2011 Museum Het Domein, Sittard, Netherlands
2011 Omsk Museum, Russia
2011 Sammlung Prinzhorn, Outland and Shadow Chamber, Heidelberg, Germany
2010 Bozar, Brussels
2010 Comune di Arco/Galleria Civica, Italy
2010 Centro de Arte la Regenta, Las Palmas, Spain
2010 Festival of Photography of Savignano, Italy
2010 Gallery Photographer RU, Moscow, Russia
2010 Galerie Sabine Knust, Munich, Germany
2010 Galeria Max Estrella
2010 Galeria Senda. Barcelona, Spain
2010 Galerie Kamel Mennour, Paris, France
2010 George Eastman House, Rochester, USA
2010 Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
2010 Jackson Fine Art, Atlanta, USA
2010 Lismore Regional Gallery, Australia
2010 Photonet Galerie, Wiesbaden, Germany
2010 Rooke Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
2010 Sammlungsleiter Fotomuseum, Munich, Germany
2010 Stenersen Museum, Oslo
2010 Sydney Biennale, Australia
2010 University of the O.F.S., South Africa
2010 Ubuntu, Salzburg Austria
2010 Ubuntu, Berlin, Germany
2009 Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand
2009 Aura Gallery, Shanghai
2009 City Museum of Ljubljana, Slovenia
2009 Gagosian Gallery, New York, USA
2009 Galerie Wolfsen, Denmark
2009 Galerija Fotografija, Ljubljana, Slovenia
2009 Galleria Massimo Minini, Brescia, Italy
2009 Hamiltons Gallery, London, UK
2009 Johnen Gallery, Berlin, Germany
2009 Monash Gallery of Art, Melbourne, Australia
2009 National Library of Australia, Canberra
2009 Ontario College of Art & Design, Toronto, Ontario
2009 Triennale, Milan, Italy
2009 University of Johannesburg, South Africa
2009 University of Pretoria, South Africa
2009 University of the Orange Free State, South Africa
2008 AEREA / Christian Larsen, Stockholm, Sweden
2008 Art Gallery of Western Australia
2008 BWA Gallery, Katowice, Poland
2008 Galeria vanGuardia, Bilbao, Spain
2008 Hertzelia Artists Host Centre, Tel Aviv, Israel
2008 Omaggio a Federico Vender at Palazzo dei Panni of Arco Trento
2008 Su Palatu, Sardinia
2007 Aura Gallery, Hong Kong
2007 Clint Roenisch Gallery, Toronto, Canada
2007 Deichtorhallen, Hamburg
2007 Galerie Photonet, Wiesbaden. Germany
2007 Jackson Fine Art, Atlanta, USA
2007 Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg
2007 Robert Klein Gallery, Boston
2007 Trafo Gallery, Oslo, Norway
2007 Yours Gallery, Warsaw, Poland
2006 Atlanta College of Arts, USA
2006 Berlin Biennial, Berlin
2006 Biblioteque Nationale, Paris
2006 Christian Dam Gallery, Oslo, Norway
2006 Everard Read, Johannesburg, South Africa
2006 Fahey Klein Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
2006 Fotografisk Center, Copenhagen, Denmark
2006 Galeria Senda, Barcelona, Spain
2006 Galerie Johnen + Schöttle, Cologne
2006 Galerie Kamel Mennour, Paris, France
2006 Galerie Nicola von Senger, Zurich, Switzerland
2006 Guido Costa Projects, Torino, Italy
2006 Museum voor Fotografie, Antwerp
2006 National Arts Festival, South Africa
2006 Oliewenhuis Art Museum, Bloem., South Africa
2006 Photographer’s Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
2006 Sasol Museum, Stellenbosch, South Africa
2006 Stills Gallery, Sydney, Australia
2006 Xavier Hufkens, Brussels, Belgium
2005 Aura Gallery, Shanghai
2005 Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem
2005 Durban Art Gallery, South Africa
2005 Reflex Gallery, Amsterdam
2005 Gagosian Gallery, New York
2004 Berkeley Art Museum, California
2004 Le Chateau d’ eau a Toulouse
2004 State Museum of Russia, St. Petersburg
2003 Galerie Mennour, Paris
2003 Galleria Carla Sozzani, Italy
2002 Centro Cultural de Maia, O’Porto
2002 Gallery of Photography, Dublin
2002 Galleria D’arte Moderna, Bologna, Italy
2002 Gagosian Gallery, New York
2002 Gagosian Gallery, Los Angeles
2002 Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego
2002 Musee Nicephore Niepce
2002 Museo Nazionalle Italy, Brescia
2002 Museet for Fotokunst, Odense
2002 Nuku Gallery, Oulu
2002 Sala Rekalde, Bilbao
2001 Association for Visual Arts, Cape Town
2001 Encontros da imagem, Braga, Portugal
2001 Fotoforum, Frankfurt
2001 Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg
2001 Hasselblad Center, Gutenberg
2001 International Photo Festival Herten
2001 Kicken Gallery, Berlin
2001 Krefelder Kunstmuseen, Krefeld
2001 Mateo Inurria, Cordoba
2001 PhotoEspana, Madrid
2001 Printemps de Septembre a Toulouse
2001 Rupertinum, Salzburg
2001 Shine Gallery, London
2001 Wurttembergischer Kunstverein, Stuttgart
2000 Museum of Photography, Athens
2000 Noordelicht, Amsterdam
2000 Royal Theatre of Namur, Belgium
2000 Sani Festival, Greece
2000 Thessaloniki, Month of Photography
1999 Fait & Cause, Paris
1999 Melkweg, Amsterdam
1999 Month of Photography, Bratislava
1999 Month of Photography, Cape Town
1998 Kunsthaus, Zürich
1998 Kunstal Museum, Rotterdam
1998 Lumo ’98
1996 Eindhoven Photographic Festival
1996 Tarranto Gallery, New York City
1995 Arles Photographic Festival, Arles
1995 Royal Festival Hall/Hayward, London
1994 Afrikaner Museum, Johannesburg
1994 Michaelis Collection, Cape Town
1986 Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg
1986 Pretoria Art Museum, Pretoria
1986 Shell Gallery, Cape Town
1982 Market Theatre, Johannesburg
1981 Centre for Photography, Denve