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STEVENSON
Michael Stevenson
Stevenson has been at the heart of Cape Town’s art ecosystem since its founding in 2003, shaping its direction in significant ways. When Michael Stevenson first opened the gallery, there was a noticeable absence of spaces that adhered to the international gallery models of the time. In the early 2000s, the South African art industry was much smaller and largely locally sourced. There was no Investec Cape Town Art Fair attracting the swarms international art practitioners it does today, and most galleries tended to represent South African artists, with fewer opportunities for them to show their work abroad.
Stevenson sought to break this barrier. From August to September 2005, the gallery presented In the making: materials and process, featuring the internationally renowned Ghanaian artist El Anatsui alongside South African talents such as Nicholas Hlobo, Dineo Seshee Bopape, Paul Edmunds, and Walter Oltman. It was the first time Anatsui, now an (art) household name, presented his work on South African soil. Similarly, in 2007 the gallery exhibited the work of Beninese artist, Meschac Gaba in a prolific solo show, Tresses, also the first for the artist in South Africa. Gaba had previously made headlines with his installation piece, Museum of Contemporary African Art in which he ‘mirrored and arguably anticipated curatorial debates about contemporary art from Africa, and the increasingly nomadic nature of the international art world in the 21st century.’ The piece was later acquired by Tate. The gallery has always upheld a rigorous, historically grounded approach to their curation. Each exhibition is accompanied by a thoughtfully crafted catalogue—both printed and rich in context—situating the artists within their broader narrative.
The gallery was one of the first from Africa to showcase its roster of artists at some of the world’s leading international art fairs, now the lifeblood of the art market. It was the first at The Armory Show, New York in 2007 and the second after Goodman Gallery, to participate in Frieze London. With limited publicly funded institutional support, Stevenson has helped shape a more international gallery model within Cape Town, connecting South Africa’s contemporary artists with the wider world, and vice versa.
Beyond their praise-worthy international exhibition programme, Stevenson is notable for its a-typical partnership model. Where most galleries tend to see a singular, or often times joint, director leading the chain of command, Stevenson instead has divided its ownership and authority amongst 13 equal partners. Michael Stevenson first sold five of his company’s shares in 2011 and the final two joined the team in 2020. Read Tim Schneider’s analysis of the gallery’s management structure in his article, ‘It Feels Like We’re in It Together’: How a Utopian Collective-Ownership Model Is Helping This South African Art Gallery Thrive in Precarious Times.
Founder: Michael Stevenson
Directors: Federica Angelucci
Marc Barben
David Brodie
Sinazo Chiya
Jessica Honeyman
Sisipho Ngodwana
Sophie Perryer
Alexander Richards
Lerato Bereng
Joost Bosland
ADDRESS
Buchanan Building
160 Sir Lowry Road
Woodstock
Cape Town 7925
RECENT ART FAIRS
Investec Cape Town Art Fair, 2025
Art Basel, 2024
ARTISTS