Artist Database

Jean de Wet was born in 1984 and lives and works in Paarl. After completing a BA in Information Design at the University of Pretoria in 2007, he moved to Cape Town to work as an illustrator at the studio Am I Collective, before turning freelance in 2012. Known for a distinctive clear-line drawing style, he self-published comics and zines, experimented with printmaking and, in 2014, was an international guest at the Short Run Comix Festival in Seattle. From 2019 painting became central to his practice, producing work that ranges from meticulously calculated compositions to loose, impressionistic pieces. His paintings explore presence and familiarity with a slight sense of humour, creating dreamlike representations of reality in which surreal elements quietly hide. Solo exhibitions include Secret Messages at No End Contemporary, Johannesburg (2017), Night and Day at Ogūn (2019), and Over Seas (2020) and Out of Town (2022) at Artist Admin Gallery, Cape Town. His published works include Atlas Mons (Warren Editions, 2011) and Crater Lake (Kuš! Komiksi, 2013).