Georgina Gratrix (b. 1982, Mexico City, Mexico) grew up in Durban, South Africa. She studied at the Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town, and graduated in 2005, specializing in painting. She was recently awarded the Discovery Prize at the 50th Anniversary edition of Art Brussels, for her presentation with SMAC Gallery. Gratrix is a recipient of the Ampersand Fellowship Award and completed her residency at the Ampersand Foundation in New York City in 2018. Recent exhibitions include The Cult of Ugliness, Irma Stern Museum, Cape Town (forthcoming); The Reunion, Norval Foundation, Cape Town (2021, solo); THIS MUST BE THE PLACE, KwaZulu Natal Society of Arts, Durban; The Pleasure is Mine, Nicodim, Los Angeles (2020, solo); Nine Weeks, Nicodim Upstairs, Los Angeles (2020, solo); Recent Acquisitions by the Homestead Collection, Norval Foundation, Cape Town (2020); Hollywood Babylon: A Re-Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome, Jeffrey Deitch, Nicodim Los Angeles, and AUTRE Magazine, Los Angeles (2020); Skin Stealers, Nicodim, Los Angeles (2019); and Punch, Jeffrey Deitch, Los Angeles (2019).
Georgina Gratrix layers thick coats of paint to create imagery she considers kitsch, gaudy, and banal. Her representations are mysteriously endearing with an innate sense of humor.
Through her work, South African-based Mexican-born artist Georgina Gratrix brings an ironic perspective and criticism of everyday life issues.
