TONY GUM
b. 1995 in Cape Town, South Africa.
Lives and works in Cape Town, South Africa.
BIOGRAPHY
Tony Gum is a young and energetic South African artist working within the medium of photography, who has recently graduated from Peninsula University of Technology in Cape Town.
Dubbed by Vogue International as the 'Coolest Girl in Cape Town', Gum blends photography, digital film, and graphic design with more traditional methods like painting, sculpture and still life compositions. Wearing the hat of creative director on the sets of shoots most of which inform her iconic contemporary portraiture pieces, she masterfully captures and brings to life the range of poignant yet subtle realities of our shared human experience and through the prism of her culture, and archetype: a woman of South African Xhosa heritage, Tony’s art captures life stories interpreted in the most unexpected yet refreshing way.
Establishing her artistic voice by drawing on pervasive signifiers and brand iconography in her seminal works which includes; Black Cola, Free Da Gum, Indian Lady, iSnap, uTwiggy and the Milked in Africa series, her previous works helped set a unique visual tone of inquiry now synonymous with the Tony Gum ‘brand’.
Tony Gum is an avid social commentator and through art gives voice to key local and global issues; gender, colonialism, globalization, and identity. She represents free thinkers of the 21st century, recognizing both the influence and responsibility of artists in the world. Seamlessly weaving together artistic genres like, photography, film, painting, sculpture and narrative her work is innovative yet timeliness.
Gum’s distinctive style and youthful effervescence has contributed to growing global interest in artists from South Africa. Her dynamic appetite for storytelling creates accessibility across constructs of; class, culture, race and gender.
EDUCATION
Film and Video Technology, graduated from Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, South Africa, 2017.
SELECTED SOLO & GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2018
Solo show, Rock Cause Analysis, C-Gallery, Milan, Italy
2017
Solo show, Ode to She, Christopher Moller Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
Cape Town Art Fair, Christopher Moller Gallery
Johannesburg Art Fair, Christopher Moller Gallery
Pulse Miami Art Fair, Christopher Moller
2016
Cape Town Art Fair, Christopher Moller Gallery
Johannesburg Art Fair, Christopher Moller Gallery
2015
Johannesburg Art Fair, Christopher Moller Gallery
SELECTED CONFERENCES
2017
Panelist at the ‘’21st Century Feminism and the Arts’’ panel, at the African Art in Venice Forum – Venice Biennale
Keynote speaker at the Wired Japan Conference (WRD IDNTTY – Why Diversity Matters) in Tokyo
2016
Design Indaba Speaker
AWARDS
2017
Pulse Art Fair Grant Jury Award for best solo exhibition
2016
Perez Art Museum Miami Top 20 (PAMM) Picks – Art Basel Miami 2016
COLLECTIONS
Jean Pigozzi Collection
SELECTED PRESS
Mediaset | #HYPE uomini e stile, Black Power, June 2018 (video - minute 3:20)
Lampoon, Rock Cause Analysis di Tony Gum by Marta Mazzacano, April 2018
Whitewall, Tony Gum. Artist in learning by Katy Donoghue, Spring 2018
L'Officiel Italia, Tony Gum by Giulia Bortoluzzi, N. 19, February 2017
Elle South Africa, Tony Gum, various articles 2015 - 2017
Vogue, Tony Gum Might Be the Coolest Girl in Cape Town, 2015
Okay Africa, South African Art: 9 Women To Watch In 2015
Artsy, 10 Young African Artists You Should Know, 2015
The Art Gorgeous, A Crush For Solange (And Besides, The Coolest Girl In Cape Town), 2015
VIDEOS