Craig Masters

b. 1963, Cape Town, lives in Cape Town.
Craig Masters, an artist and graphic designer from Cape Town, was involved with the Cape Flats Art Group, and has been making work since the 1980s. He believes that “imagination is the true powerhouse of the mind” and this certainly comes through in his paintings, which are stylistically unique within South Africa’s art scene. Masters depicts people and social scenes embedded in landscapes, sometimes urban and rural, and sometimes dreamlike and otherworldly.

Education

1995: Graphic Design Training Course, Qurack Express, Lads Freehand and Photoshop, Hirt and Carter, Cape Town.
1995: Diploma, Practical Animation, Kaleidoscope Studio, Cape Town.
1984: Diploma, Fine Art and Graphic Design, Battswood Training College, Cape Town.

Group Exhibitions (South Africa)

1998: Parliament’s Opening Exhibition, Houses of Parliament, Cape Town.
Year: The Legacy of Steve Biko, (with Cape Flats Art Group), District Six Museum.
1996: Mural Project, District Six Museum, Cape Town (visited by United States Vice President Al Gore).
1992: Art in Publishing Exhibition, Town Square, Cape Town.

Group Exhibitions (International)

2000: Art Afri, Cultura Group, Bern.

Commissions

2003: Billboard design, Joseph Stone Auditorium Play, Cape Town.
2000s: Painting, Iziko Slave Lodge, Cape Town.

Awards

2010: First Prize for animation, The Lion and the Elephant, One Minute Awards, Amsterdam.
1993: Runner up, Upbeat Story Group Comic Competition, South Africa.

Workshops

1995: Thupelo Workshop, Cape Town.
1992: Charcoal Animation workshop with William Kentridge, Iziko National Gallery, Cape Town.

Publications

1988: Gavin Younge, Art of the South African Townships, Random House Incorporated, Michigan.
2011: Mario Pissarra (ed), A Visual Century, South African Art in Context, Volume 3: 1973–1992, Wits University Press, Johannesburg.

Career

Current: Freelance fine artist and graphic designer
Current: Visual Arts Teacher, Build a Better Society (BABS), Cape Town.
2006 – 2010: Report Writer, South African Film and Publication Board, Cape Town
(work also included publication examination for age restriction recommendations, commercial storyboard production, and collaboration with Paradox Animation for FPB Awareness Clip.)
2001 – 2007: E-learning course design for companies, Laragh Courseware, Cape Town.
1995: Storybook and Textbook illustrator, Hirt and Carter, Cape Town.
1995: Storyboard artist, Network Agency, Cape Town.
1995: Mural painter, Artwork co-ordinator for al Gore 1995 visit, District Six Museum, Cape Town.
1995: Visual Arts Teacher, Build a Better Society (BABS), Cape Town.
1994: Film Technician, Nautilus Film Studio, Cape Town.
1994: Temp Cartoonist, South Newspaper, Cape Town.
1994: Storyboards and Rendering, Berry Bush, Cape Town
1985 – 1994: Assistant Make-up, Display Forms, Cape Town.

Other Involvement

2010: Produced The Lion and the Elephant 01:00 animation, Greatmore Studios, Cape Town.
1992: Member, South African Publishers’ Association, Cape Town.
1991: Volunteer Visual Arts Teacher, Blackheath Primary School, Cape Town.
1988: Judge, Tygerberg Eistedfod, Cape Town.
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