Biography

Reflecting the thoroughly mediated aspect of painting, Deborah Poynton’s large-scale works often place contemporary figures in classical poses and natural settings to create scenes that invite examination rather than participation. Her pastoral scenes are conditioned by landscape painting and still life traditions as well as the philosophy of stoicism.

Poynton’s solo exhibitions include Folly, Haus am Lützowplatz, Berlin (2022); Beyond Belief, Drents Museum, Assen, the Netherlands (2021); Fool’s Gold, Stevenson, Cape Town (2020); Memory of What Never Was, Stevenson, Cape Town (2019); Model for a World: A Survey of 25 Years of Painting, The New Church Museum, Cape Town (2014); Everything Matters, ACA Gallery, Savannah College of Arts and Design, Atlanta, US (2009) and Recent Paintings, Irma Stern Museum, Cape Town (2003).

Her work has also been featured in group exhibitions, such as Unlimited, Drents Museum, Assen, the Netherlands (2022); I Have Made A Place, Norval Foundation, Cape Town (2021); Tamawuj: Sharjah Biennial 13 (2017); Der Feine Riss: Zeitgenössische Malerei auf dem Historischen Feld [The Subtle Rift: Contemporary Painting in the Historical Frame], Haus am Lützowplatz, Berlin (2016); Home Truths: Domestic Interiors in South African Collections, Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town (2016); I Love You Sugar Kane, Institute of Contemporary Art Indian Ocean, Port Louis, Mauritius (2016) and Experience 3: Truth, El Segundo Museum of Art, US (2013), among others.

Poynton was a finalist in the Tatham Art Gallery National Portrait Competition, South Africa Commission for the Arabella Sheraton Hotel, Cape Town (2003) and participated in a residency at Mikael Anderson, Copenhagen (2006). She is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, USA (1989).

Born in 1970 in Durban, South Africa, she now lives and works in Cape Town.

SAF participation:
Sharjah Biennial 13 (2017)

Related