The Soft Refusal to Fall

Androetta Bekker

Androetta Bekker was born in 1982 in a small town in the Free State, where she grew up immersed in a rich blend of South African cultures.

Introduced to art at an early age by her mother, an artist herself, Androetta Bekker learned to see creativity as a powerful means of expression. However, it was only later in life—after a successful career in the sciences was disrupted by a traumatic accident—that she fully reconnected with her artistic roots. This dramatic personal shift profoundly shaped her belief that change, however difficult, should be embraced, as it often serves as a catalyst for discovery and growth.

Now based in Cape Town, Androetta Bekker draws inspiration from the country’s vibrant cultural diversity. Her bold and colourful works are characterised by expressive illustration and striking surface patterns. While her visual language is eye-catching and dynamic, her true artistic obsession lies in exploring the depth and complexity of universal human emotions. Through her portraiture, she investigates how people rarely experience a single emotion in isolation—how sadness may be tinged with joyful nostalgia, or how pride may be shadowed by fear and anger. Her work captures these layered, often contradictory inner states with nuance and empathy.

Androetta Bekker’s debut exhibition took place in December 2020. Since then, she has received notable recognition, including a Top 40 placement in the 2021 Sanlam Portrait Award and a Silver Award in Camelback Gallery’s international Black and White Art Competition the same year. Her work has been exhibited in group shows at respected galleries such as Artisart, Cahoots, and Rust-en-Vrede, as well as the “Home Is Where the Art Is” exhibition at the Zeitz MOCAA.

These accolades have led to numerous invitations for group exhibitions and commissions, including international showcases. Androetta Bekker exhibited her work in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, in both November 2022 and 2023, and in Kassel, Germany. In 2024, her work was featured at the Positions Berlin Art Fair, an international group exhibition that highlighted her distinctive surface patterns and emotive exploration of the human condition.

Internationally, Androetta Bekker is a continuous participant in the Travelling Art Gallery artists’ initiative. In Cape Town, she is represented by The Artists Gallery.