The Craftsman Sculpture - Limited Edition of 12

Jonathan van der Walt is a visual artist and curator based in Gqeberha, South Africa, with a focus in sculpture. In 2013 he received his Honours degree in Fine Art Sculpture (cum laude) at Nelson Mandela University and went on to receive his Masters in 2017. Both research projects dealt with the ‘business’ of art, the visual arts industry and its often unknown collaborative and interdisciplinary traits. The purpose of the MA was to highlight the craftspeople that usually went unnoticed or unrecognized throughout the art-making process. These focus areas were explored through the methods of traditional bronze casting in conjunction with 3D scanning and 3D printing. Currently, Jonathan is an Associate Lecturer in the Department of Visual Arts at Nelson Mandela University, lecturing into various undergraduate and postgraduate modules in Fine Art, sculpture and interdisciplinary studies as well as research supervision for Hons and MA students. In addition, he holds the role of the gallery manager & curator of the Department’s Bird Street Gallery, as well as oversees the newly established 3D Printing Lab for the School of Visual and Performing Arts. He is a member of the Digital Humanities Hub at Mandela University and sits on the board of EPSAC/Artec, aiding in the promotion and support of emerging artists in the Eastern Cape. He has exhibited in over sixty group exhibitions nationally and internationally. He has been selected as a national finalist in the L’Atelier competition on three occasions, and the Sasol New Signatures competition on six occasions as well as a finalist in the PPC Imaginarium 2019. He participated in the Luciano Benneton Imago Mundi Small Canvas project in 2014-15, exhibiting in Venice, Rome and New York, as part of the South Africa Collection, the collection of the NMM Art Museum. In 2021-22, he was involved in the Through Our Eyes exchange partnership, exhibiting at The Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum and The Ritz Art Museum in Jacksonville, Florida, and was selected as one of two artists to travel to the USA as part of this exchange, but unfortunately could not attend due to health reasons at the time. He was the recipient of the Selector’s Choice and the NMMU and Business Chamber’s Chosen Artist Award for the Wish You Were Here exhibition and was invited to exhibit as part of the prestigious NMM Art Museum Biennial in 2015.