Paul Du Toit - Art Career

Art Career

1997 was a significant year, because Paul sold his first paintings locally. He also launched his website and his work was spotted by a gallery owner in Paris who invited him to exhibit in 1998. This decided Paul to make art his career as he became part of a group exhibition at the Groot Constantia Art Gallery. Joshua, Paul and Lorette’s second child was born in 1997. 1998 was the year Paul hit the international circuit with his paintings being exhibited in a number of international and local exhibitions and generating a lot of interest in the local media. He appeared on the CNN International Art Club and held his first solo exhibition in Paris. Paul used his trip to Paris to study bronzes and when he returned he ignited his love for sculpture by creating his first bronze (Ralph and Little Ralph). His exhibition in October 1998 included paintings as well as one of the Ralph bronzes. 1999 marked a continuation of the local and international interest with shows in Moscow, Edinburgh and with local corporates buying some of Paul’s work. 2000 was a coup for Paul as he was selected by Professor Richard Demarco to be one of the 70 over 2000 – a noteworthy achievement. This resulted in a solo and group exhibition in Cape Town as well as exhibitions in Holland and France. 2000 heralded the beginning of Paul’s wooden sculptures. In 2001 he was nominated to exhibit works at the Florence Biennale of Contemporary Art where he won 5th place in the sculpture section. He was also nominated for the Daimler Chrysler Award for South African Sculpture. He held two solo exhibitions one at the Holland Art Fair in The Hague and the other in Cape Town. Fame spread like wild fire and in 2002 Paul exhibited on the American continent for the first time, at the Toronto International Art Fair. In addition, two of his paintings sold for well over the reserve at Sotheby’s and Christiaan Barnard hosted a solo exhibition of Paul’s latest sculptures and paintings in Johannesburg. It was also the year that Paul created his first bronze sculptures from wire armatures introducing a new technique to his painting and sculpture. This was inspired by a trip with Lorette to Zanzibar. In 2003 Lorette joined the PlanetPaul team fulltime and they created a new studio in Hout Bay. Paul experimented with different media. With his career as an artist firmly entrenched, Paul was able to pay attention to some community involvement and he devoted time to charity painting with groups of children at the Red Cross Children’s Hospital in Cape Town. This seemed a fitting cause, given his long bleak confinement to hospital during his own childhood. He also donated work for the annual art auction ball. In 2004 Paul held his first solo exhibition in New York where he was reviewed by both the NY Arts Magazine and the Arts and Antiques Magazine. He also held a solo exhibition in Holland and he created his stick figure with the signature upturned "L-foot", which would become synonymous with Paul’s work in years to come. In 2005 a successful exhibition was held at the Erdmann Contemporary Gallery in Cape Town. He also created the Purple Hominid mural at the Cradle of Humankind in Sterkfontein, South Africa. To repeat a pattern of his life, Paul once again used a trip to New York and the Dieu Donne Papermill to create a new technique, a set of paintings made from paper pulp to which colour had been applied. Paul exhibited a series of paper pulp paintings at the Erdmann Contemporary in Cape Town. He held a solo exhibition in Johannesburg where he featured monumental sculptural pieces which included drawing, painting and sculptural techniques. ‘’Information taken from the book "Paul Du Toit" published on the occasion of the exhibition "Fighting with my Weak Hand" at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa in 2006’’ ‘’Edited by Pippa Tsilik’’