Heike Allerton-Davies

I am a painter, living and working on the False Bay coast of Cape Town, with my sculptor husband and 2 teenage children. For most of my art career my work was predominantly focused on issues around the representation of different women, their struggles and identities and cultural circumstances. South Africa is historically a complex environment that embodies many stories around gender and identity. More recently, as in this body of work, my focus has shifted to representing more personal narratives, both whimsical and nostalgic. Rooted in my own identity and childhood in South Africa, growing up in a time of carefree abandonment and freedom. Horses have become symbolic to me of that time when we ran wild - innocent and mostly oblivious to the complex world outside of our immediate surroundings. These works often represent the happy place of youth, the bond with horses and nature in a time where technology was non-existent and we had no idea how much the world would change. We are the last generation of childhoods where boredom was a luxury and days were simple with endless possibilities for adventure.

Educated in East London, South Africa
After school I did a 1 year foundation course in Art and Design at the EL Technical College before doing an honours degree in painting at the Michaelis school of Art at UCT.

SOLO SHOWS

2022 BANG BANG solo show at IS Art, Stellenbosch
2017 FOREIGN BODY solo show at IS ART Frasnchhoek
2017 Stockholm Art Fair
2015 DAUGHTERS solo show at LIZAMORE and ASSOC in Johannesburg
2014 Group Summer shows at Everard Read, Cape Town, Dorp Street Gallery, Stellenbosch and IS Art, Franschhoek
2014 November Solo show at Youngblood, Cologne, Germany
2014 Gaze solo show at Everard Read, Cape Town
2013 Valley of Grace solo show at Artspace, Johannesburg
2012 Good Night solo show at the Barnard Gallery, Newlands, Cape Town
2005 Second show at Italian design showroom, Limeline, in collaboration with sculptures by Samuel Allerton
2004 Damaged, solo show at the Association of Visual Arts
2003-2005 various works and exhibitions at Dirt Art Space, Kloof Road, Cape Town

GROUP SHOWS:

2014 IS ART Winter group show,Franschhoek
2013 Group Show YoungBlood , Cologne, Germany
2011 Group Show 15 Years Everard Read Gallery , Cape Town
2011 Group Show Fresh Everard Read Gallery, Cape Town
2009 Group Show Sex, Power and Money Everard Reed Gallery, Cape Town
2008 Group Show Baring at the AVA
2003 Group Show YDEsire, at the Cape Town Castle of Good Hope
2003 Tired of Talking, VEO Gallery, de Waterkant, Cape To...