Celebrating visual arts from across the continent

Experience exhilarating exhibitions

Our art gallery is not your conventional gallery. The art we exhibit in this space is both the works of pioneering art masters, and that of dynamic, inspiring and emerging visual artists. More than simply preserving the continent’s art legacy, we are committed to shining the spotlight on works of young African artists to bring their possibility to life.

While the COVID-19 pandemic may have changed how we consume art (attending exhibition openings or visiting art galleries), it should not affect our experience of art. We want to make art more accessible to everyone. That’s why we’ve started the Absa Art Hot Spot, an initiative through which we live stream digital openings of the art exhibitions in our gallery. Furthermore, we’ve collaborated with well-known local artists to bring you art masterclasses and insightful discussions with previous Absa L’Atelier winning artists. In short, you can now attend a prestigious art event from the comfort of your chair.

You see, art is in our DNA. Although banking is not something you usually associate with art, our corporate art collection is one of the largest in Africa and in the top 10 globally. In fact, our buildings are filled with art from our collection, as well as artworks specially commissioned for our buildings.

The artworks in these larger spaces include:

• A huge colourful marvel by artist, Karel Nel, titled ‘Place of Nature’ hangs in the reception area
• Five, six-storey tall tuft carpet banners by Norman Catherine — hand-woven by rural men
• An 11-metre tall Walter Oltmann wire sculpture depicting replicas of carved African chairs, weighing half a ton
• A two-storey tall metal mobile of the old City of Johannesburg, shown against the newer, more modern city in perfect balance; created by Lewis Levin, Paul Cawood and Susan Woolf. It moves slowly, making a cycle every 20 minutes

To subscribe to the Absa Art Hot spot newsletter, email gallery@absa.co.za.
Visit our Absa Art Hot Spot playlist on the Absa South Africa YouTube channel for our latest videos.