Velile Soha
b. 1957, Cape Town, South Africa; lives in Cape Town.
Working largely as a printmaker – in wood block, linocut and silkscreen – Velile Soha’s works depict figures engaged in everyday labour and recreational processes, from mine work to guitar-playing. A prevalent theme in his practice is the convergence of the lives and worlds of township residents with those of rural communities, and the historical processes that have created these spaces and caused them inevitable overlap and mixing.
Art Education
1981 - 1983: ELC Art and Craft Centre, Rorkes Drift, KwaZulu-Natal.
Solo Exhibitions (South Africa)
1998: Association for Visual Arts, Cape Town.
Group Exhibitions (South Africa)
2011: Thupelo Printmaking Workshop, Greatmore Studios, Woodstock, Cape Town.
2010: These Four Walls Fine Art, (with Leboana Lefuma), Cape Town.
2010: Creative Block: 150 artists, Association for Visual Arts Gallery, Cape Town.
2010: Embassy of Spain, Bishopscourt, Cape Town.
2010: Winter 2010, Irma Stern Museum, University of Cape Town, Cape Town.
2010: Gill Alderman Gallery (with Sophie Peters, Donovan Ward, Selvin November, Dathini Mzayiya), Cape Town.
2007: Africa South, Association for Visual Arts Gallery, Cape Town.
2006: Art in Business, Artscape, Cape Town.
2006: Keep Time (with Sipho Hlati and Madi Phala), Cape Gallery, Cape Town.
2006: Botaki 4, Old Mutual Asset Managers, Cape Town.
2005: A Sense of Place, Masibambisane High School, Cape Town.
2005: Encompass, Cape Gallery, Cape Town. Botaki 2, Old Mutual Asset Managers, Cape Town.
2002: Art Kites Project, Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town.
2001: Homecoming, Guga S’Thebe, Cape Town.
1999: From Pisces into Aquarius, Idasa Gallery, Cape Town.
1999: Jill Trappler/ Velile Soha, Association for Visual Arts Gallery, Cape Town.
1999: British Council, Cape Town.
1992: Shell House, Cape Town.
1991: The Dorp Street Gallery, Stellenbosch.
1991: Chelsea Gallery, Wynberg, Cape Town.
1990: Group Exhibition, Baxter Theatre Gallery, Cape Town.
1989: The Dorp Street Gallery, Stellenbosch.
1987: American Centre, Cape Town.
1986: Good Hope Centre, Cape Town.
1985: Bhekuzulu Hall, University of Zululand, Richard's Bay.
2010: These Four Walls Fine Art, (with Leboana Lefuma), Cape Town.
2010: Creative Block: 150 artists, Association for Visual Arts Gallery, Cape Town.
2010: Embassy of Spain, Bishopscourt, Cape Town.
2010: Winter 2010, Irma Stern Museum, University of Cape Town, Cape Town.
2010: Gill Alderman Gallery (with Sophie Peters, Donovan Ward, Selvin November, Dathini Mzayiya), Cape Town.
2007: Africa South, Association for Visual Arts Gallery, Cape Town.
2006: Art in Business, Artscape, Cape Town.
2006: Keep Time (with Sipho Hlati and Madi Phala), Cape Gallery, Cape Town.
2006: Botaki 4, Old Mutual Asset Managers, Cape Town.
2005: A Sense of Place, Masibambisane High School, Cape Town.
2005: Encompass, Cape Gallery, Cape Town. Botaki 2, Old Mutual Asset Managers, Cape Town.
2002: Art Kites Project, Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town.
2001: Homecoming, Guga S’Thebe, Cape Town.
1999: From Pisces into Aquarius, Idasa Gallery, Cape Town.
1999: Jill Trappler/ Velile Soha, Association for Visual Arts Gallery, Cape Town.
1999: British Council, Cape Town.
1992: Shell House, Cape Town.
1991: The Dorp Street Gallery, Stellenbosch.
1991: Chelsea Gallery, Wynberg, Cape Town.
1990: Group Exhibition, Baxter Theatre Gallery, Cape Town.
1989: The Dorp Street Gallery, Stellenbosch.
1987: American Centre, Cape Town.
1986: Good Hope Centre, Cape Town.
1985: Bhekuzulu Hall, University of Zululand, Richard's Bay.
Group Exhibitions (International)
2009: Contemporary Prints from South Africa, Cultural Arts Center of Douglasville, Douglasville.
2006: Cape Town: Contemporary Prints by Sipho Hlati, Velile Soha and Ernestine White, Polvo Art Studio, Chicago.
2004: The ID of South African Artists, Fortis Circustheatre, Scheveningen, Netherlands.
2004: Memorias de un Mexicano: Homage to Francisco Mora, Beacon Street Gallery and Theatre, Chicago; Elgin Community College, Illinois.
2002: The Hourglass Project: Journey, Ernest G. Welch School of Art & Design Gallery, Georgia State University, Georgia.
1996: Galerie Gabriel, Amsterdam.
1994: University of Brighton Gallery, Brighton.
1994:The Conservatoire of Music, Windhoek.
1993: Manyano, Museo Etnografico Azul, Buenos Aires.
1989: Eli Marsh Gallery, New York.
1988: Mousun Turn, Frankfurt.
2006: Cape Town: Contemporary Prints by Sipho Hlati, Velile Soha and Ernestine White, Polvo Art Studio, Chicago.
2004: The ID of South African Artists, Fortis Circustheatre, Scheveningen, Netherlands.
2004: Memorias de un Mexicano: Homage to Francisco Mora, Beacon Street Gallery and Theatre, Chicago; Elgin Community College, Illinois.
2002: The Hourglass Project: Journey, Ernest G. Welch School of Art & Design Gallery, Georgia State University, Georgia.
1996: Galerie Gabriel, Amsterdam.
1994: University of Brighton Gallery, Brighton.
1994:The Conservatoire of Music, Windhoek.
1993: Manyano, Museo Etnografico Azul, Buenos Aires.
1989: Eli Marsh Gallery, New York.
1988: Mousun Turn, Frankfurt.
Collections
Iziko South African National Gallery
Western Cape Provincial Government
Creative Block
Truworths
(And numerous private collections).
Western Cape Provincial Government
Creative Block
Truworths
(And numerous private collections).
Workshops, Residencies and Other Involvement
1999 - 2010: Residency, Greatmore Studios, Cape Town.
2006: Thupelo International Workshop, Rorkes Drift, KwaZulu-Natal.
2004: Renaissance Printmaking Workshop, Castle of Good Hope, Cape Town.
2004: Thupelo Regional Workshop, Lwazi Centre, Cape Town.
2001 - 2004: Teacher, Community Arts Project, Cape Town.
2002: The Caversham Press, KwaZulu-Natal.
2003: Thupelo International Workshop, Malmesbury.
1999: Tulipamwe International Artists Workshop, Windhoek.
1998: Thupelo Regional Workshop, Annexe, Iziko SA National Gallery, Cape Town.
1994: Thupelo Regional Workshop, Community Arts Project, Cape Town.
1994: Teacher, Community Arts Project, Cape Town.
1993: Thupelo Workshop, Johannesburg.
1993: Thupelo Workshop, Pretoria.
1970s: Associated with the Nyanga Art Centre, (teaching, working, etc).
2006: Thupelo International Workshop, Rorkes Drift, KwaZulu-Natal.
2004: Renaissance Printmaking Workshop, Castle of Good Hope, Cape Town.
2004: Thupelo Regional Workshop, Lwazi Centre, Cape Town.
2001 - 2004: Teacher, Community Arts Project, Cape Town.
2002: The Caversham Press, KwaZulu-Natal.
2003: Thupelo International Workshop, Malmesbury.
1999: Tulipamwe International Artists Workshop, Windhoek.
1998: Thupelo Regional Workshop, Annexe, Iziko SA National Gallery, Cape Town.
1994: Thupelo Regional Workshop, Community Arts Project, Cape Town.
1994: Teacher, Community Arts Project, Cape Town.
1993: Thupelo Workshop, Johannesburg.
1993: Thupelo Workshop, Pretoria.
1970s: Associated with the Nyanga Art Centre, (teaching, working, etc).
Commissions
Velile Soha has been commissioned to make illustrations for eight books, including for Oxford University Press. He has also made illustrations for calendars by companies Engen, Caltex and Truworths. He was part of a group that received commissions from the Department of Health, for an HIV/ Aids Education mural in Gugulethu, and the Cape Town City Council, for murals in Nyanga Junction as well as ceramic murals for Guga S'Thebe in Langa.
Publications
2021: Sule Ameh James, Sociocultural themes in the art of Velile Soha, ASAI.
2006: Mario Pissarra, Botaki Exhibition 4: Conversations with Tyrone Appollis, Old Mutual Asset Managers (exhibition catalogue), Cape Town.
2005: Mario Pissarra, Botaki Exhibition 2: Conversations with Sophie Peters, Old Mutual Asset Managers (exhibition catalogue), Cape Town.
2004: T Van den Ende & S Khan (eds), Identity: The ID of South African Artists, Stichting Art & Theatre, Amsterdam.
2003: P Hobbs & E Rankin, Rorkes Drift: Empowering Prints - Twenty Years of Printmaking in South Africa, Juta Publishing, Cape Town.
1997: P Hobbs & E Rankin, Printmaking in a transforming South Africa, David Philip, Cape Town & Johannesburg.
1988: Gavin Younge, Art of the South African Townships, Thames and Hudson, London.
1988: Gavin Younge, 'The Next Million Years', In Leadership (Johannesburg) 7(5) 58-60 & 63-66.
2006: Mario Pissarra, Botaki Exhibition 4: Conversations with Tyrone Appollis, Old Mutual Asset Managers (exhibition catalogue), Cape Town.
2005: Mario Pissarra, Botaki Exhibition 2: Conversations with Sophie Peters, Old Mutual Asset Managers (exhibition catalogue), Cape Town.
2004: T Van den Ende & S Khan (eds), Identity: The ID of South African Artists, Stichting Art & Theatre, Amsterdam.
2003: P Hobbs & E Rankin, Rorkes Drift: Empowering Prints - Twenty Years of Printmaking in South Africa, Juta Publishing, Cape Town.
1997: P Hobbs & E Rankin, Printmaking in a transforming South Africa, David Philip, Cape Town & Johannesburg.
1988: Gavin Younge, Art of the South African Townships, Thames and Hudson, London.
1988: Gavin Younge, 'The Next Million Years', In Leadership (Johannesburg) 7(5) 58-60 & 63-66.
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Physical address:
Room 2.02
Old Medical School
University of Cape Town
32 – 37 Orange Street
Gardens
Cape Town, 8000
South Africa
Email: admin@asai.co.za
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