Elfriede Dreyer

Elfriede Dreyer is an internationally renowned curator, artist and academic mentor. She is interested in intermediality in artistic practice, particularly at the interfaces of digital and physical media. In her theoretical and practical research, she questions existentiality and constructions of the world by focusing on the articulations of utopia, dystopia and heterotopia. His works have been exhibited in major galleries, museums, universities and art festivals, and have been included in the collections of the University of Pretoria, Unisa, Telkom, DBSA, FNB and in various private collections. A finalist in most South African national competitions, including the Brett Kebble Award, she has held solo exhibitions in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Paris and Oudtshoorn. Since 2015, she has been affiliated with the University of South Africa as an Extraordinary Professor of Art. Previously, she taught full-time at Unisa from 1990 to 2003, and from 2003 to 2014 at the University of Pretoria as a full professor, teaching fine arts and art history and specializing in postgraduate studies. Elfriede was Academic Dean of the Open Window Institute from 2014-2015 and worked as a museologist for the Art Bank of South Africa in 2019. Her academic publications have appeared in local and in-house academic journals and books. Besides founding the Fried Contemporary Gallery in Pretoria in 2005, where she was curator for 10 years, she continues to curate nationally and internationally in major galleries and museums. She has participated in most national competitions such as Absa l'Atelier, Sasol New Signatures and the Portrait Award. Elfriede has the creative ability and entrepreneurial flair to produce vision and solutions within the context of the visual arts discipline. She is widely recognized as a mentor and has the ability to develop artistic talent in others. His academic qualifications in art history, visual arts, interactive multimedia, European languages, music and philosophy make his complex and interdisciplinary frame of reference one of his main assets. She has received several scholarships as a student and, as a professional, continues to receive grants from prestigious institutions, including receiving the NRF rating in 2012 and again in 2018.