Sanell Aggenbach

Sanell Aggenbach (born 1975) is a South African artist living and working in Woodstock, Cape Town. Using painting, printmaking, and sculpture, her work addresses the relationship between history and private narratives, with a sense of ambiguity. Her work also explores the processes of nostalgia and historical myth-making, often incorporating the playful, disarming, and absurd to draw the viewer into discussions of darker subjects. She has a unique style of combining traditional painting techniques with sculptural elements, as well as typically feminine crafts such as sewing and tapestry.

Career
Aggenbach graduated from the University of Stellenbosch in 1997 with a bachelor's degree in Fine Arts. Although now a full-time artist, Aggenbach was a lecturer from June 2000– March 2004 at the Cape College in Graphic Processes, Two-Dimensional Design and Drawing. Her work is represented in the Spier Collection, Anglo Gold South Africa, Sasol Art Museum, the Sasol Collection, and the Hollard Collection.

Solo exhibitions

 * 2013: 'Familia Obscura', Brundyn +, Cape Town
 * 2011: 'Some Dance to Remember Some Dance to Forget', Blank Projects, Cape Town
 * 2009: 'Graceland', Gallery AOP, Johannesburg
 * 2008: ' Sub Rosa', João Ferreira Gallery, Cape Town
 * 2007: 'Perfectly Still', Absa Gallery, Johannesburg
 * 2006: 'Blues and Greys', Art on Paper Gallery, Johannesburg
 * 2005: 'Fool's Gold', Bell-Roberts Contemporary, Cape Town
 * 2005: 'Hoogwater/High Tide', KKNK, Oudtshoorn
 * 2003: 'Blank', AVA Gallery, Cape Town
 * 2001: 'From a Netherworld', Bell-Roberts Gallery, Cape Town
 * 2000: 'Northern Ladies', Art Konsult, New Delhi, India
 * 1998: 'An Imitator', AVA Metropolitan Gallery, Cape Town

Group exhibitions

 * 2011: 'Alptraum', Deutscher Kuenstlerbund, Berlin, Germany
 * 2010: 'Twenty', contemporary public sculpture, Nirox, Johannesburg
 * 2008: 'Print '08: Myth, Memory and Archive', Bell-Roberts Gallery, Cape Town
 * 2007: 'Arcadia', AVA Gallery, Cape Town
 * 2007: 'Turbulence', Hangar-7, Salzburg, Austria
 * 2007: Spier Contemporary, Stellenbosch
 * 2006: '20 Artists 06'. Contemporary printing, Bell-Roberts Gallery, Cape Town
 * 2005: 'Sweet Nothings', new photographic work, Bell-Roberts Gallery, Cape Town
 * 2004: '40 Years', University of Stellenbosch, Sasol Art Museum
 * 2004: '2nd Spier Outdoor Sculpture Biennial', Stellenbosch
 * 2003: 'Picnic', Bell-Roberts Gallery, Cape Town
 * 2003: Brett Kebble Art Awards
 * 2003: 'ABSA L'Atelier', Johannesburg
 * 2003: 'YDESIRE', Castle of Good Hope, Cape Town
 * 2002: 'Autogeographie', Millennium Gallery, Johannesburg
 * 2002: 'Spier Outdoor Sculpture Biennial', Jan Marais Nature Reserve, Stellenbosch
 * 2001: 'Micro/Macro', South African Printmakers at the Xchanges Gallery, Victoria, British Columbia (Canada)
 * 2001: 'ABSA L'Atelier', Johannesburg.
 * 2001: 'Aarsel/ Waver', KKNK, Oudshoorn

Some Dance To Remember Some Dance To Forget
A 2011 series of monotype prints that pay tribute to iconic images and albums from rock music history. Through these prints, Aggenbach offers a critique of African er identity, focusing on the generation inspired by the post-punk musicians.

Graceland
A 2009 exhibition at Gallery AOP inspired by a trip to Elvis's home in Memphis, Tennessee, exploring what it means to be Afrikaans.

Sub Rosa
A 2008 body of work referencing tampered photographic film, which blurs the distinction between the imagined accuracy of photography and the inaccurate or misleading nature of painting.