STATEMENT
BIO
I make art about the similarities between "us" and "other" but these ideas are usually as fragmentary as they are persistent.The porous boundary between my internal world and my perceived reality produces hypersurrealist artwork. I am constantly disassembling and reassembling identities so I use whatever ideological material is at hand, allowing each concept to first take physical shape then piecing my theories together around it. Like found objects of the mind.
I am also deeply curious about the unifying forces in humanity. I choose subjects and stories that are unlikely to match with expectations or contexts because it's when we strip away expectations that we find real connection and meaning. For that reason my titles tend to be narrative descriptions, containing references that lead the viewer to larger concepts and constructs so that every part of the piece matters to the whole:
Kim Mobey is a self-taught visual artist, born in Cape Town in 1980 and working across multiple disciplines and media. She sold her first sculpture through a gallery at the age of 15 and held her first solo exhibition in 2011. In 2017 her sculptural work was recognised when she became a finalist in the PPC Sculpture competition and in 2019 her portrait was selected for the top 40 of the Sanlam Portrait Awards.
Strongly influenced by African cultural history, her work focuses on heritage and humanity, seeking out stories of global diaspora, history and leadership as well as contemporary global cultural and political cross-pollination. Using traditional materials and techniques as well as experimental applications of new materials, methodologies and mixed media she actively subverts concepts of normalcy, aesthetics, gender, race, age and class as ideologies by disrupting the traditional presentation and context of her subjects.
A dedicated autodidact Mobey views herself as an "outsider artist" as she received no artistic training after middle school. She actively teaches painting and sculpture through charitable events, studio coaching and collaborations. She also regularly provides internships for early career artists and university art students in Cape Town.
CV
Selected Exhibitions
2011 – Knysna Gallery, Knysna “In This Skin” (Solo)
2012 – Western Cape Premier, Official Residence Cape Town “See the Point, Darling”
2013 – Knysna Fine Art Gallery , Knysna “Pink Loerie Group Show”
2015 – MOMO Gallery Johannesburg “Les is More”
2017 – The V&A Watershed, Cape Town Inaugural “Art Africa Fair”
2017 – The Cape Gallery, Cape Town “Dream Now, Dream Not”
2017 – UJ Gallery, Johannesburg, “PPC Imaginarium Finalist Show”
2017 – Turbine Hall, Johannesburg “Turbine Hall Art Fair”
2017 September – Art @ The Clocktower, Cape Town. “It is not all Black and White”
2017 November – Art @ The Clocktower, Cape Town. ”Tides of Talent”
2018 February – Investec Cape Town Art Fair “Art at Africa”, Cape Town
2018 March – The Cape Gallery, Cape Town “Illusive Reality”
2018 September – Art Africa, V&A Waterfront “Heritage Day Exhibition”
2018 December – The World Yacht, News24 Nasdak “Afro-chic”
2019 June – Portraits, The Cape Gallery, Cape Town
2019 August – Rust en Vrede Gallery “Sanlam Portrait Award top 40 finalist exhibition”
Curator
2013 May – The Glimoré Gallery “Together We Stand”, a group exhibition opened by Seapoint Ward Councillor JP Smith.
2012 May – The Knysna Gallery “The Naked Truth”, A group show of life drawings and paintings
2014 September to December – First Thursdays “Grand Daddy Hotel” Group Show, Cape Town Featuring John Bower, Peter Van Straten, Janet Ranson and Natasha Johnson.
Competitions
2017 January – Sculpture Finalist, PPC Imaginarium Awards
2017 September – World of Design Competition finalist: For the Love of Concrete, Cape Town
Galleries
Art at Groot Constantia – Groot Constantia Wine Estate, Constantia
Lyn Atterbury
Cape Gallery – Church Street, Cape Town
Gail Dorje
Art at Africa – The Clocktower, V&A Waterfront Cape Town
Dirk Durnez: (for reproduction prints only)
Charities and Projects
I support these causes with donations of artwork for auction, public speaking, teaching and participation in group projects.
2014 – City of Cape Town, World Design Center “Hands of Honour”
Part of the “Man on the Side of the Road” employment initiative
Paul Taliard:
2014 – City of Cape Town, World Design Center “WDC/MURP Co-design workshop”
Facilitating community involvement in urban upliftment in impoverished areas
Graham Falken:
2014 (Ongoing) – Paint it Forward
A collective of volunteers and artists painting uplifting murals in the children’s wards of public hospitals
Chris Lategan:
2014 (Ongoing) – Call to Care “Paint and Sip”
Teaching, consulting, events and creative projects raising funds for sustainable food gardening workshops in impoverished areas
Alexandrnya Audagnotti:
2016 – The AfrAsia Bank Cape Wine Auction, Cape Town, Groot Constantia Wine Farm
In aid of education for farm workers in the South African Winelands
Lyn Atterbury
2017 (Ongoing) – Catwalk to Freedom
In aid of education and sanctuary for child brides in Sudan, Uganda and Kenya
Nya Nyuon:
2018 (Ongoing) – SOS Save Our Schools & Water 4 Cape Town
In aid of practical, ongoing water collection and delivery to vulnerable communities during the Western Cape Drought.
Paulette van Heerden: