Sanell Aggenbach

{{Short description|South African artist (born 1975)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}}

{{Infobox artist

| name = Sanell Aggenbach

| image =

| image_size =

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1975}}

| birth_place =

| death_date =

| death_place =

| nationality = South African

| spouse = Brett Murray

| known_for = Painting, Sculpture, Printmaking

| training = BA in Fine Art, University of Stellenbosch 1997

| movement =

| notable_works =

| patrons =

| awards = 2003 Absa L'Atelier
UNESCO-Aschberg Residency

| elected =

| website = {{URL|http://www.sanellaggenbach.com/}}

}}

Sanell Aggenbach (born 1975) is a South African artist living and working in Woodstock, Cape Town.{{cite book|last=Pather|first=Jay|title=Spier Contemporary 2007 Catalogue|year=2007|publisher=Africa Centre|location=Cape Town|pages=257}} Using painting, printmaking, and sculpture, her work addresses the relationship between history and private narratives, with a sense of ambiguity.{{cite web|last=Aggenbach|first=Sanell|title=Profile|url=http://www.sanellaggenbach.com/biography/profile/|accessdate=13 April 2012}} Her work also explores the processes of nostalgia and historical myth-making,{{cite web|last=Gurney|first=Kim|title=Sanell Aggenbach|url=http://www.artthrob.co.za/05sept/artbio.html|publisher=ARTTHROB|accessdate=13 April 2012}} often incorporating the playful, disarming, and absurd to draw the viewer into discussions of darker subjects. She has a unique style of combining traditional painting techniques with sculptural elements, as well as typically feminine crafts such as sewing and tapestry.

Career

Aggenbach graduated from the University of Stellenbosch in 1997 with a bachelor's degree in Fine Arts.{{cite web|last=Aggebach|first=Sanell|title=C.V.|url=http://www.sanellaggenbach.com/biography/cv/|accessdate=13 April 2012}} Although now a full-time artist, Aggenbach was a lecturer from June 2000– March 2004 at the Cape College in Graphic Processes, Two-Dimensional Design and Drawing. Her work is represented in the Spier Collection, Anglo Gold South Africa, Sasol Art Museum, the Sasol Collection, and the Hollard Collection.

=Solo exhibitions=

  • 2013: 'Familia Obscura', Brundyn +, Cape Town
  • 2011: 'Some Dance to Remember Some Dance to Forget', Blank Projects, Cape Town
  • 2009: 'Graceland', Gallery AOP, Johannesburg
  • 2008: ' Sub Rosa', João Ferreira Gallery, Cape Town
  • 2007: 'Perfectly Still', Absa Gallery, Johannesburg
  • 2006: 'Blues and Greys', Art on Paper Gallery, Johannesburg
  • 2005: 'Fool's Gold', Bell-Roberts Contemporary, Cape Town
  • 2005: 'Hoogwater/High Tide', KKNK, Oudtshoorn
  • 2003: 'Blank', AVA Gallery, Cape Town
  • 2001: 'From a Netherworld', Bell-Roberts Gallery, Cape Town
  • 2000: 'Northern Ladies', Art Konsult, New Delhi, India
  • 1998: 'An Imitator', AVA Metropolitan Gallery, Cape Town

=Group exhibitions=

  • 2011: 'Alptraum', Deutscher Kuenstlerbund, Berlin, Germany
  • 2010: 'Twenty', contemporary public sculpture, Nirox, Johannesburg
  • 2008: 'Print '08: Myth, Memory and Archive', Bell-Roberts Gallery, Cape Town
  • 2007: 'Arcadia', AVA Gallery, Cape Town
  • 2007: 'Turbulence', Hangar-7, Salzburg, Austria
  • 2007: Spier Contemporary, Stellenbosch
  • 2006: '20 Artists 06'. Contemporary printing, Bell-Roberts Gallery, Cape Town
  • 2005: 'Sweet Nothings', new photographic work, Bell-Roberts Gallery, Cape Town
  • 2004: '40 Years', University of Stellenbosch, Sasol Art Museum
  • 2004: '2nd Spier Outdoor Sculpture Biennial', Stellenbosch
  • 2003: 'Picnic', Bell-Roberts Gallery, Cape Town
  • 2003: Brett Kebble Art Awards
  • 2003: 'ABSA L'Atelier', Johannesburg
  • 2003: 'YDESIRE', Castle of Good Hope, Cape Town
  • 2002: 'Autogeographie', Millennium Gallery, Johannesburg
  • 2002: 'Spier Outdoor Sculpture Biennial', Jan Marais Nature Reserve, Stellenbosch
  • 2001: 'Micro/Macro', South African Printmakers at the Xchanges Gallery, Victoria, British Columbia (Canada)
  • 2001: 'ABSA L'Atelier', Johannesburg.
  • 2001: 'Aarsel/ Waver', KKNK, Oudshoorn

Notable works

=Some Dance To Remember Some Dance To Forget=

A 2011 series of monotype prints that pay tribute to iconic images and albums from rock music history. Through these prints, Aggenbach offers a critique of African er identity, focusing on the generation inspired by the post-punk musicians.{{cite web|last=Aggenbach|first=Sanell|title=Some Dance To Remember Some Dance To Forget|url=http://www.sanellaggenbach.com/work/2011-some-dance-to-remember-some-dance-to-forget/|accessdate=18 June 2013}}

=Graceland=

A 2009 exhibition at Gallery AOP inspired by a trip to Elvis's home in Memphis, Tennessee, exploring what it means to be Afrikaans.{{cite web|last=O'Toole|first=Sean|title=After Graceland|url=http://www.mahala.co.za/art/after-graceland/|publisher=Mahala|accessdate=13 April 2012}}{{cite web|last=Heil|first=Antonia|title='I don't limit myself,' says Sanell Aggenbach|url=http://www.capetownmagazine.com/arts-culture/I-dont-limit-myself-says-Sanell-Aggenbach/104_22_17810|publisher=Cape Town Magazine|accessdate=13 April 2012}}

=Sub Rosa=

A 2008 body of work referencing tampered photographic film, which blurs the distinction between the imagined accuracy of photography and the inaccurate or misleading nature of painting.{{cite web|last=Aggenbach|first=Sanell|title=Sub Rosa|url=http://www.sanellaggenbach.com/work/2008-sub-rosa/|accessdate=18 June 2013}}

References

{{Reflist}}