Alastair Whitton (1969, Glasgow, Scotland) graduated in 1994 with a National Diploma in Fine Art (with distinction) from the Natal Technikon School of Fine Art in Durban, South Africa where he was awarded the Emma Smith Scholarship for further study abroad. He was a merit award winner at the 1994 Volkskas Atelier Awards in Johannesburg and in 1995, following a three-month stay at the studio of artist Marlene Dumas in Amsterdam, studied towards an MFA at the Glasgow School of Art in Scotland. On his return he worked as curator of the KZNSA Gallery in Durban. Following collaborative projects with British artist Neville Gabie, Whitton relocated to England where he lectured at the Cheltenham College of Art and Design. He lived in London from 1998-2002 during which time he traveled to Europe and Australia. He is currently based in Cape Town. In 2009 works from his series Patmos and the War at Sea were selected for the 8th Bamako Encounters African Photography Biennial where he was one of seven artists to represent South Africa. The exhibition entitled Borders traveled to FotoMuseum in Antwerp, the Johannesburg Art Gallery, Iziko South African National Gallery, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon and the Vilnius Contemporary Art Centre in Lithuania. Whitton’s work can be found in various corporate and public collections in South Africa.

Selected exhibitions:

2011

Imprint: Editions and Works on Paper, David Krut Projects Cape Town

Conflict Zones: The Language of War, David Krut Projects Cape Town

Borders: 8th Bamako Encounters African Photography Biennial, Contemporary Art Centre, Vilnius, Lithuania

Borders: 8th Bamako Encounters African Photography Biennial, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon, Portugal


2010

Works in Series: Alastair Whitton, Diane Victor & William Kentridge, David Krut Projects, Johannesburg

Patmos and the War at Sea, iArt Gallery Wembley: A Project Room for Contemporary Art, Cape Town

Borders: 8th Bamako Encounters African Photography Biennial, South African National Gallery, Cape Town

Borders: 8th Bamako Encounters African Photography Biennial, Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg

David Krut Projects, 3rd Joburg Art Fair, Johannesburg

Less tussen die lyne, Wordfees, US Gallery, University of Stellenbosch

Borders: 8th Bamako Encounters African Photography Biennial, FotoMuseum, Antwerp, Belgium


2009

David Krut Projects, Editions / Artists Book Fair, New York, USA

Borders: 8th Bamako Encounters African Photography Biennial, Musee National du Mali, Bamako, Mali

Patmos and the War at Sea, David Krut Projects, Johannesburg

David Krut Projects, 2nd Joburg Art Fair, Johannesburg


2008

Prints from the David Krut Workshop, University of South Africa, Pretoria

David Krut Projects, 1st Joburg Art Fair, Johannesburg


2007

Leading & Emerging South African Artists, Rose Korber Art Consultancy, Cape Town

Recent Prints from DKW, David Krut Projects, Cape Town


2006

Filter, Obert Contemporary, Johannesburg

Recent Prints from DKW, David Krut Projects, Johannesburg


2005

Leading & Emerging South African Artists, Rose Korber Art Consultancy, Cape Town

South-east: Contemporary Art from China, Japan & South Africa, Gallery 34 Long, Cape Town


2004

Leading & Emerging South African Artists, Rose Korber Art Consultancy, Cape Town


2003

Desert, Ibis Art Centre, Nieu Bethesda, Great Karoo


2002

Topographies, South African Centre for Photography, Cape Town


2001

Contemporary South African Photography, National Gallery, Harare, Zimbabwe

i-scapes, PCL Gallery, Sydney, Australia


1999

ABSA Atelier Award Winners 1986-1999, ABSA Gallery, Johannesburg


1998

Kraal, Gasworks, London, England

Dis-ease: Young South African Contemporaries, Axiom, Cheltenham, England


1997

Books as Art: International Literary Festival, Cheltenham Museum / Cheltenham Town Hall / Cheltenham & Gloucester College of Higher Education, England

Lifetimes: Contemporary Southern African Art, Aktionsforum Praterinsel, Munich, Germany

Material Evidence, Africus Institute for Contemporary Art, Johannesburg

Material Evidence, Tatham Art Gallery, Pietermaritzburg

Material Evidence, KZNA Gallery, Durban

Photosynthesis: Contemporary South African Photography, South African National Gallery, Cape Town

Photosynthesis: Contemporary South African Photography, Standard Bank Gallery, Johannesburg

Photosynthesis: Contemporary South African Photography, Standard Bank National Arts Festival, Grahamstown


1996

Durban meets Stuttgart / Stuttgart meets Durban, Galerie Umtern Turm, Stuttgart, Germany

Jabulisa: The Art of Kwa Zulu Natal, Standard Bank National Arts Festival (touring exhibition)


1995

Re-collection, Durban Centre for Photography, Durban

Objects of Desire, Thompson Gallery, Johannesburg


1994

Artists invite Artists, Durban Art Museum, Durban

Emma Smith Scholarship Award, Natal Technikon Gallery, Durban

Forms of the Future, Durban Art Museum, Durban

Volkskas Atelier Awards, ABSA Gallery, Johannesburg

South African Youth Arts Festival Awards, Natal Technikon Gallery, Durban