Midas and Me Collage

Lynette Bester’s sculptures are made from everyday objects that are often crowd-sourced through online social media and word-of-mouth. This method of production allows for a degree of unpredictability in the final product and further informs the accumulative nature of the work. Lynette Bester has achieved critical attention and is an associate artist with Everard Read. She has exhibited actively in Cape Town, Johannesburg and abroad and has achieved notable attention for both local and international art competitions and residencies since completing a B.A. in F. A.1999, and an M.A. in F.A. (Cum Laude), 2002 both from University of Stellenbosch, South Africa. She has participated group exhibitions including YDESIRE at the Castle of Good Hope, Cape Town, 2003, AFETOS ROUBADOS, Goethe Institute, Brazil, 2005. With the Bell-Roberts Contemporary in Cape Town she participated in exhibitions which achieved critical press attention. Amongst these were GREENHOUSE 2007, PRINT '08 and BLACK AND WHITE in 2009. At the AVA, Cape Town, she similarly achieved critical press attention while participating, amongst others, in BALL SPORTS 2007, BARING 2008, SOCIAL PATTERN 2009, OWN GOAL 2010 and NATURAL SELECTION: 1991 - 2011. At Heidi Erdmann Contemporary in Cape Town Bester participated in MATTERS CONCEPTUAL in April and it's sequel CONCEPT MATTERS in August, 2010. In 2012 Bester exhibited in Johannesburg at the critically acclaimed project space at the Fordsburg Studio's: Bag Factory in SOUNDING OUT and most recently she has exhibited with Commune 1 and Everard Read Cape Town including a sculpture erected in the Mount Nelson Garden in affiliation with Everard Read Gallery for the summer of 2014-2015. Bester has had 4 solo exhibitions in Cape Town: WHOLES CUT OUT 2002, at The Cold Room, HEART: DIMENSIONS VARIABLE 2005 at Blank Projects; and STALKING THE FAMILIAR at the AVA, 2010, and Cathedral at CIRCA, Everard Read Cape Town in 2017 all for which she received positive critical review. In 2006 Bester was a double finalist for the SASOL NEW SIGNATURES and in 2007 she was selected as a Top Ten Finalist for the ABSA L'ATELIER 2007. Most recently Bester was a Finalist in the INTERNATIONAL CELESTE PRIZE and exhibited her work as part of the award ceremony at the Invisible Dog, New York, in November 2011.