Cornè Theron

Cornè Theron (born 1974, Worcester, South Africa) is a South African–born, France-based contemporary artist whose practice explores the emotional, perceptual, and subconscious spaces where unseen connections quietly surface. Working across painting, photography, glass, video, and digital media, Theron investigates how fragmented elements - memories, pixels, reflections - coalesce into meaning.

Originally trained in law, completing an LLB at the University of the Orange Free State in 1997, Theron soon after transitioned fully into the visual arts. Early recognition included being a finalist in the Crouse Gallery Fresh Talent competition and shortlisted for the SA Taxi Art Awards, followed by group exhibitions and her first solo exhibition in Johannesburg. Since 2018 international exhibitions, group exhibitions, successful art fairs and five solo-exhibitions followed, and manifested the artist's career as internationally recognized.

In 2019, Theron relocated to France on a French Government-awarded talent visa to further her artistic career. Around this time, Theron developed her distinctive use of glass as a filtering device - first discovered in a farmhouse near Cape Town and later expanded through vintage French glass found during the renovation of her home in France. This process introduces pixelation, abstraction, and optical depth, blurring the boundaries between reality and perception. The pixel functions both visually and conceptually: a symbol of individuality within a larger collective, echoing neo-impressionist strategies where discrete elements form a unified whole.

Water recurs as a central metaphor in the artist’s work, representing the fluid, layered nature of the subconscious and the invisible forces shaping human behaviour. Through this lens, Theron’s practice asks not only what we see, but how meaning emerges through movement, reflection, and connection.

Her international career includes sold-out solo exhibitions such as AMA (Frankfurt, 2020), AQUA (Kassel, 2023), and a 2024 solo exhibition in Munich curated by Dr. Sonja Lechner. Her recent solo exhibition in Cape Town, 'Nymphéas: Les Femmes Émergentes - In Conversation with Monet’, was featured by Artsy on its Most Loved list alongside major international artists, and received positive critical media coverage from Cape Times, Die Burger, and Your Luxury Africa, as well as a radio interview on Fine Music Radio.

Theron will host a multisite exhibition, titled 'Reflets', in May 2026 in Sarrebourg, France, in collaboration with the Sarrebourg Museum. Her work was selected for a solo presentation at the Chapelle des Cordeliers, where it will be exhibited in dialogue with Marc Chagall’s 'La Paix' as part of the 50-year anniversary celebration of the work.

Work by the artist is held in private collections internationally, the public collection of The War Museum, Bloemfontein, and is supported by notable collectors, including former Artsy CEO Mike Steib. Theron currently lives and works in France.

Cornè Theron is represented by The Artists Gallery in Cape Town.