Maja Marx

About

Contemporary abstract painter Maja Marx (b. 1977; South Africa) currently lives and works in Cape Town, South Africa. Marx’s approach to painting evokes the visual vibrations of her meticulous process that act as optical activations of the surface. Her paintings reflect the hyper-activations of surface that begin through a mapping process. This is guided by her use of ‘found’ compositions that are then mapped onto the canvas. Marx’s process of transcription self-proliferates to produce lively optical fields that she uses to ‘stare herself’ out and onto the canvas. Each layer of paint responds to the previous layer to become rich self-referential fields in which the physical act of looking is foregrounded; surfaces that are read, looked at, and stared into all at once.

Marx is a fellow of the Ampersand Foundation (New York/ Johannesburg) and a participant of MAPS (Master of Art in the Public Sphere); an exchange between the Wits School of the Arts, Johannesburg, South Africa and the Ecole Cantonale d’art du Valais in Sierre, Switzerland. Since receiving her MFA in Fine Art (Cum Laude) from the University of the Witwatersrand in 2008, her works have been included in a range of public and private collections, including the Goethe Institute, the Goldberg Collection, the Ackerman-Berman Collection, and the Renee and Robert Drake Collection.

Additionally, Marx participated in the Ekard Residency (2022-2023, Netherlands) and has been involved in multiple art fairs with WHATIFTHEWORLD gallery since 2021. Selected solo exhibitions include Skin of the Eye (2023), being her sixth to be hosted with WHATIFTHEWORLD; succeeding There There (2020), Chorus (2018), Glare (2016), Block (2013), and Fold (2011). Selected group exhibitions include Women’s Work (2016) at the IZIKO South African National Gallery, Cape Town, Imaginary Fact (2013) at the 55th La Biennale di Venezia, South African Pavillion, Venice, and ELIA exhibition: Cuenca, Spain & Gent (2006), Belgium.

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2025	When Pink Was Yellow - When Pink Was Yellow, DepArt Out, Italy
2023	Skin of the eye - WHATIFTHEWORLD, Cape Town
2020	There There - WHATIFTHEWORLD, Cape Town
2019	Chorus - WHATIFTHEWORLD, Cape Town
2016	GLARE - WHATIFTHEWORLD, Cape Town
2013	BLOCK: Recent works - WHATIFTHEWORLD, Cape Town
2011	Fold, WHATIFTHEWORLD, Cape Town
2010	Crease, Outlet, Pretoria
2007	As Far As The Eye Can Touch, The Premises Gallery, Johannesburg

Selected Group Exhibitions

2023	Art Brussels 2023, Brussels, Belgium
2022	The Phoenix Runway - WHATIFTHEWORLD, Cape Town
2021	RESTUDIO, Cunningham Contemporary, Johannesburg
2016	Women's Work, IZIKO South African National Gallery, Cape Town
2014	Capital, Fried Contemporary, Pretoria
	Footnote, Richmond, Northern Cape
2013	The Past Will Bury You, NIROXProjects, Johannesburg
	Imaginary Fact, 55th La Biennale di Venezia, South African Pavillion, Venice
2012	ReSample, Absa Gallery, Johannesburg
2011	Basic Reality, Goodman Gallery Projects at Arts on Main, Johannesburg
	ABSA Boekrak, KKNK, Oudshoorn
2010	Glove, Joburg Art Fair collaboration with Artist Proof Studios, Johannesburg
	Spier Contemporary, Cape Town City Hall, Cape Town
2009	Paper Pigeon, Pigeon Square Public Artwork, Johannesburg, in collaboration with Gerhard Marx
	Anaphora, Michaelis Rosedale Gallery, Cape Town
	The Heart of the African City, African Perspectives 2009, The African City Centre (re)sourced, University of Pretoria
2008	Away: Richmond: Map Richmond, Northern Cape
2006	ELIA exhibition: Cuenca, Spain & Gent, Belgium
	Hollard - Waste at Work