Artist Database

Robert Slingsby, a contemporary artist from South Africa, discovered his artistic talent and fascination with rock art and nature as a child. He has always been curious about and connected to the world around him. Slingsby’s artworks are an exploration of human emotion and experience linked to the natural environment. This interest has led him to travel extensively, encountering different cultures and traditions to study their art, religions, and teachings, which has influenced his artwork. Slingsby’s work comprises painting, drawing, printmaking, and sculpting often in various traditional and non-traditional mediums that provide a richness of texture and depth to his pieces.

Slingsby left South Africa in 1977 to study at the Vrije Akademie in Den Haag, the Netherlands, for five years, where he participated in over 20 solo shows. This success persisted when he returned home, and the artist continues to create and regularly exhibits. He has held numerous shows locally and internationally, including in the UK, the USA, Australia, Hong Kong, Greece, and Germany and can be found in many public and private collections, such as the personal collection of the Wyeth dynasty of American painters. Slingsby is also noted for his contribution to the recording of various rock art found across Southern Africa and his work with remote indigenous communities throughout the continent.