Artist Database

South African photographer Jo Ratcliff studied at the Ruth Prowse School of Art in Cape Town before receiving her Bachelor of Fine Arts (1985) and Master of Fine Arts (1988) from The University of Cape Town’s Michaelis School of Fine Art. Her works, frequently in black and white, contain traces of people but usually do not feature them. Instead, she uses animals and abandoned landscapes to suggest themes of identity, displacement, conflict, history, and memory. Her works document vestiges of apartheid, South Africa’s Border War with Angola (1966 to 1990), and other spaces of trauma.

Ractliff has exhibited extensively with Stevenson Gallery and at notable international venues such as the Art Institute of Chicago, USA (2020/2021); Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands (2017); Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, USA (2015); Tate Modern, London, UK (2015); South African Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, Italy (2015); and Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK (2011). Her works are held in the collections of prestigious museums like the Pompidou in Paris, France; Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and Metropolitan Museum of Art, both in New York City, USA; and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), USA; as well as at many South African institutions.

Image source: https://awarewomenartists.com/en/artiste/jo-ractliffe/