State of the art (fair)
Investec Cape Town Art Fair 2026 reaffirmed Cape Town’s standing as a global art destination. Martin Jacobs highlights standout solo exhibitions by Selwyn Steyn and Raquel Maulwurf, and examines how this year’s prize winners reinforced the fair’s impact on South Africa’s contemporary art narrative.
While art fairs aren’t my preferred way of viewing art – there’s too much visual overload to properly absorb what I see – Investec Cape Town Art Fair has always offered an engaging snapshot of the state of South African art, as well as an opportunity to discover emerging artists creating compelling work. If I leave with knowledge of a new artist whose work I like, and then venture to that gallery for even more insights into that artist’s creativity, the work of an art fair, for me, is done. This year’s fair didn’t disappoint, with a high standard of work made all the more interesting by the presence of a handful of both African and European galleries.
A definite favourite of mine was South African artist Selwyn Steyn’s innovative installation of urban landscapes. Represented by Untitled Art, in addition to practising as a qualified architect, Steyn lives and works in Paris, painting in his leisure time. I love what guest curator of the fair’s Tomorrows/Today section, Mariella Franzoni, had to say of Steyn’s work: “Steyn’s project brings together a new body of paintings that engage with the urban landscape of Johannesburg and the wider Gauteng region. Rendered in dust-laden tones of muted orange, pale brown, and grey, the city appears immediately recognisable yet subtly estranged: austere, stripped of spectacle or consolation. Roads, bridges, municipal buildings, quarries, peripheral fields, and dense urban grids recur across the small-format paintings, which are installed in a dense grid built of cardboard – the same material architects use to construct maquettes. Here, however, the structure evokes the logic of a surveillance control room.” One of few exhibiting galleries to offer respite from the traditional white wall, Untitled Art’s booth broke from the norm, making for an engaging installation that accentuated the dust-laden tones Franzoni noted.
I also loved the solo exhibition presented by The Netherlands’ Livingstone Gallery of Spanish artist Raquel Maulwurf’s charcoal drawings both small and monumental. “Raquel’s drawings are inspired by her fascination for mankind’s destructive urges: the devastation of his own habitat by war and ecocide,” a gallery representative explained. “Making something evocative and beautiful from horrific events, these images, both destructive and monumental, are manipulated in such a way that only the essence of the event remains.” Maulwurf’s works are eerily atmospheric in their interplay of light and dark, and display her accomplished dexterity working with charcoal and pastel. Drawing on toughened museum board she’s able to brutalise the surface of her works through scratching and the use of sharp objects, in so doing reflecting in her mark-making the violence inherent in her subject matter.
This year saw an increased number of prizes awarded to artists, with two new prizes now up for grabs: the ORMS International Photography Prize and the Materiality Prize. Director of the fair, Laura Vincenti, said of the prizegiving: “Prizes are not just acknowledgements; they create momentum. They offer visibility, confidence, and, in many cases, a turning point. For an artist, winning can mean the difference between being seen and being overlooked, between an international opportunity and waiting another year.” These are the 2026 winners:
Mellaney Roberts, represented by Berman Contemporary
RDC Art Collection Award
Of her win, Mellaney Roberts says, “This is a collective win for the community that I grew up in within Bobbejaanskloof. So, it’s not just for me, but it’s also about taking it back to my community, showing them the appreciation and the hard work that went into excavating their memories, identity, and what land means to us.” Roberts’ winning work will be exhibited in one of RDC’s landmark buildings, guaranteeing her ongoing public visibility.
www.bermancontemporary.com
Sibusiso Bheka, represented by Afronova
ORMS International Photography Prize
“The inaugural ORMS International Photography Prize was awarded to Sibusiso Bheka whose work proves that photography remains one of the most urgent mediums for engaging with our image-saturated world. The prize also recognises a practice that treats the photographic image not only as documentation, but as a critical, conceptual tool,” the judges explain. In addition to a cash prize, Bheka receives a Canon image printer, enabling him to produce museum-quality archival prints, supporting the ongoing development and presentation of his photographic practice.
www.afronova.com
Amy Rusch, represented by Suburbia Contemporary
Materiality Prize in partnership with Homo Faber
At a moment when the art world is rediscovering tactility, craft, and process, this prize positions artists working across geographies within a global conversation about what it means to make with one’s hands. For Rusch, material is not merely a medium, but meaning itself. She will receive an all-expenses-paid invitation to participate in the Homo Faber Fellowship Masterclass in Venice – an eight-month international craft training programme that bridges generations of making, design, and artisanal knowledge.
www.suburbiacontemporary.com
Chidirim Nwaubani, represented by Doyle Wham
Tomorrows/Today Prize supported by Fiera Milano Exhibitions Africa
“The Tomorrows/Today Prize was awarded to Chidirim Nwaubani, recognising an artist whose practice reflects the spirit of the fair’s Tomorrows/Today section, dedicated to emerging and under-represented voices pushing the boundaries of contemporary practice,” says an Investec Cape Town Art Fair representative.
www.doylewham.com
Warren Maroon, represented by Everard Read
Investec Emerging Artist Award
The Investec Emerging Artist Award supports local artists producing world-class work and who are not yet affiliated with an institution, museum, or collection. Maroon’s sculptures use the detritus of everyday life – like the shards of glass and matchsticks pictured – to create new meaning and beauty, a visual representation of his lived experience and his upbringing in the Cape Flats.
www.everard-read.co.za
