Dale Lawrence

Dale Lawrence’s work as a solo artist and as part of the creative studio Hoick, which he co-founded, has become known for a tendency to marry painstaking application and wry humour. In his two solo exhibitions at SMITH, Look Busy (2016) and Another Helping (2017), and his solo presentation at the FNB JoburgArtFair, Amateur Hour (2018), Lawrence used paintings, monotypes, linocuts and sculpture to articulate his métier – studying the tension between focused intent and willful abandon.

By meticulously painting his own lackadaisical tracings of classic artworks or creating new prints by tearing up others that have gone unsold, Lawrence’s interventions seek to locate the true value – and origin – of both an artwork and its maker. Lawrence lives and works in Cape Town, where he graduated from Michaelis School of Fine Art along with the Katrine Harries Print Cabinet Purchase Award. In both guises Lawrence has been part of numerous group shows and fairs, notably the FNB Joburg Art Fair and the AKAA Art Fair in Paris. Lawrence was a Top 10 Finalist at the 2017 Barclays L’Atelier Competition.