SWAIN HOOGERVORST
(b. 1988 Cape Town, South Africa)

‘My paintings draw their inspiration from a photographic starting point. My intention though is not to recreate a photograph, but rather to allude to what is referenced. My work deals a lot with memory and the recollection of time and events or encounters passed. I try to paint in a way that evokes the unreliability of memory but also the dream-like feeling we give it, especially if that memory is positive. Hence I paint in a way that is vague or potentially non-descriptive but which leaves visual cues as to what may or may not be there.’

- Swain Hoogervorst, 2024

Swain Hoogervorst is based in Cape Town. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Arts from Vega (2010). He was selected as a top 100 finalist in the ABSA L’Atelier Competition in both 2013 and 2015. Residencies include Schildersweek in the Netherlands (2013), Arteles Creative Centre in Finland (2015), Mas des Graviers in France (2019) and Cité internationale des arts in Paris (2022).

Hoogervorst has participated in exhibitions both nationally and internationally. His first solo exhibition Inside Out was at the AVA Gallery in Cape Town (2014). Searching Eudaimonia (2017) marked his solo debut at Everard Read in Cape Town, followed by In Between Spaces (2020) and Time is a Long Thin Hand (2022) at Everard Read in Franschhoek. Hoogervorst curated an international group show, The Invisible Thread (2023), at the AVA Gallery, Cape Town. Hoogervorst is represented by Everard Read in South Africa and in the UK. His work can be found in private collections (in the UAE, US, UK, Brazil, France, Australia, Germany and Belgium) and public collections, including the Spier Arts Trust in South Africa.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2024
Tomorrow, Everard Read, Cape Town, SA

2022
Time is a Long Thin Hand, Evevard Read, Franschhoek, SA

2020
In Between Spaces, Everard Read, Cape Town, SA

2018
Making Pictures, Cubicle Series, Everard Read, Cape Town, SA

2017
Searching Eudaimonia, Everard Read, Cape Town, SA

2014
Inside Out, AVA Gallery, Cape Town, SA

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2025
10 Years | Summer 2025, Everard Read, London, UK
Diepe Grond (Attaqualand), curated by Liza Grobler, Klein Karoo National Arts Festival, Oudtshoorn, SA
Investec Cape Town Art Fair, with Everard Read, Cape Town, SA

2024
Inner Sanctum, Everard Read, Johannesburg, SA
Winter Collection, Everard Read, Franschhoek, SA
Investec Cape Town Art Fair, with Everard Read, Cape Town, SA

2023
What I Feel When I Think About The Cosmos, Everard Read, Franschhoek, SA
The Invisible Thread, curator, AVA gallery, Cape Town, SA
Horse, Under Projects, Cape Town, SA
Collide, Feather Stone Centre for the Arts, Massachusetts, USA

2022
Spring, Everard Read, Franschhoek, SA
Things I’d like to remember, Everard Read, Cape Town, SA
Seduction, Everard Read, Cape Town, SA

2021
In Conversation, Everard Read Gallery, Cape Town
Summer Show, Everard Read Gallery, Cape Town

2020
Proxies, Gallery Gallery, Johannesburg, SA
STILL, digital exhibition, Everard Read, UK & SA

2019
Summer Show, Everard Read, Cape Town, SA
Land and Sea, Art on Avenues, Somerset West, Cape Town, SA
New Small Paintings, Pop Up Exhibition, Roodebloem Studios, Cape Town, SA
Winter Show, Everard Read CIRCA, Cape Town, SA

2018
Summer Show, Everard Read, Cape Town, SA
Nano 1.2, Barnard Gallery, Cape Town, SA
Making Pictures, Cubicle Series, Everard Read, Cape Town, SA
Winter Show, Everard Read, Cape Town, SA
In the forests of the night, Everard Read, Johannesburg, SA
Investec Cape Town Art Fair, with Everard Read, Cape Town, SA

2017
Nano 1.1, Barnard Gallery, Cape Town, SA
Spectrum, Everard Read, Johannesburg, SA

2016
Liminal Geographies, Barnard Gallery, Cape Town, SA
Line and Shadow, Gallery, Johannesburg, SA
Death of the old, Kalashnikovv Gallery, Johannesburg, SA
Stars and Tracks, The Project Room, Windhoek, Namibia
For what it’s worth, No End Contemporary, Johannesburg, SA
Pastoral Abstraction, Everard Read, Cape Town, SA

2015
Defining the Narrative, Gallery MOMO, Cape Town, SA
Homage, Everard Read, Cape Town, SA

2014
Pool Party, Alma Martha Project Space, Cape Town, SA
Golden Haze, Salon 91, Cape Town, SA
/SCAPE, Salon 91, Cape Town, SA

2013
One in a Million, Salon 91, Cape Town, SA
Absa l’Atelier, Best 100 exhibition, Johannesburg, SA
Schildersweek, Domburg, Netherlands

2012
Summer Show, Salon91, Cape Town, SA
{Impression; Sunset} Salon91, Cape Town, SA

RESIDENCIES

2022
Cité internationale des arts, Paris, France

2019
Mas des Graviers, Pourrières, France

2015
Arteles Creative Centre, Haukijärvi, Finland

2013
Schildersweek, Domburg, Netherlands