Summer 2026 Exhibition

The Summer Exhibition 2026 at ark. contemporary brings together a curated selection of contemporary South African artists working across painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, photography, and mixed media. Featuring a diverse range of practices, the exhibition reflects ongoing explorations of landscape and place, memory and perception, ecology, and material process.

Spring 2025 Exhibition

Spring Exhibition

A vibrant Spring exhibition at ark. contemporary, uniting sculpture, photography, tapestry, painting, and mixed media. Featuring new works by Io Makandal, Brett Rubin, Elsa Maritz, Sarel Petrus, Louis Olivier, Grietjie Lee, Stella Olivier, and many more.

Fertile Ground

26 July – 28 August

Celebrating four years of ark. contemporary, Fertile Ground brings together artists working across themes of landscape, ecology, memory, and place — rooted in rural textures, urban echoes, and everything in between. Curated by Wessel van Huyssteen in collaboration with Gallery 2.

Autumn Exhibition

April – Jun 2025

A captivating Autumn exhibition showcasing fresh new works from our gallery artists, complemented by striking pieces from associate artists making their ark. contemporary debut. This seasonal curation features artworks by Grietjie Lee, Stella Oliver, Louis Oliver, Wessel van Huyssteen, Elsa Maritz, and other remarkable creatives.

Summer Exhibition

January – April 2025

An exciting exhibition celebrating the latest work from our gallery artists, alongside standout pieces from associate artists making their ark. contemporary debut — featuring works by Grietjie Lee, Stella Oliver, Louis Oliver, Wessel van Huyssteen, Elsa Maritz, and many more incredible talents.

Gallery Raffle

December 2024

Held on 21 December 2024, the latest ark. contemporary Gallery Raffle was a night to remember. Guests enjoyed great conversation, fine wine, and the thrill of seeing who would win one of eight standout artworks—with a ninth awarded to the best dressed. With entries from across the country and a curated selection of pieces, the event celebrated the energy and spirit of the local art scene.

Equilibrium

April 2022 – May 2022

ark. contemporary hosted the first Free State Art Collective (FSAC) art exhibition following the Covid lockdown. 

36 artists from across the province participated. The exhibition was curated by Karen Brusch.

This word equilibrium is embedded and imbued with deep, layered meaning and scholars in the fields of mathematics, physics, science and psychology have been unravelling its mystery for centuries. Nature’s fine balance is teetering on the edge of collapse.

Our universal psyche is bombarded with the politics of derision and division, with small hope of finding common ground. And on a personal level, the state of equilibrium is elusive and one is ever attempting to attain it. 

In the words of writer, photographer and conservationist
Kevin Kelly, “Equilibrium is dead”. Or is it? Is it not merely a dynamic
interplay between states of illusion and reality?