Yoka Wright
About the Artist
Born: 1947 - Holland
Yoka Wright’s early art tuition took place at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, prior to her move to Johannesburg, South Africa in 1964. Once settled in Johannesburg, Yoka attended the Johannesburg School of Art, where she specialised in illustration. After a short stint at South African Associated Newspapers as an illustrator and layout designer, Yoka travelled to England, Holland and the Far East. During the early 1970's she lived and worked from a canal-side studio in Amsterdam.
Yoka returned to South Africa in the mid-seventies, and opened her own art gallery in Johannesburg. A study tour in the mid-1980’s took her to Spain and England before returning to South Africa in 1987. From 1988 Yoka continued to create works for commissions and collectors, moving toward crossover African-inspired images with textured handmade paper and parchment.
View CollectionStyle & Format
This South African artist refuses to be boxed in to a particular style or media. She has had a long and dynamic career as an artist in such varied media as watercolour, oil, pastel, mixed media, pottery, bronze sculpture and acrylic works. Her talents continue to surprise and impress her collectors and critics alike. In 2004 Yoka experimented with modern abstraction in her South African art - producing some magnificent pieces which now grace homes around the world.
Yoka Wright’s abstracts are the refinement of inspiration and years of artistic training. The clean, crisp lines and vivid colours in her South African art evoke a sense of focused calm whilst keeping the viewer’s interest dynamically involved. In all her works, the creative process is unpretentious, clearly and subtly depicted.
Yoka intends to continue with her bronze sculpture whilst focusing on origination of her abstract works. Her philosophy in work and life is, as Noël Coward said, ‘Work is more fun than fun’.
Yoka is married with three children, has lived in South Africa for the majority of her life and has no intention of living anywhere else. The changes brought about in South Africa in 1994 inspired her to create the images entitled Hope, Peace and Freedom that capture the beauty of South Africa and its cultural heritage after the transition. Yoka refines her artistic techniques from her studio in the picturesque and rural Noordhoek Valley, outside Cape Town.
Exhibitions
This South African artist’s exhibitions include:
Jan Six Gallery, Amsterdam in 1972, Rank Xerox, Netherlands in 1973, Seton Walker Gallery, Oxford in 1979, Christies Contemporary Art in 1981, London Contemporary Art in 1985, Gallery De Belles Artes, Majorca in 1985, Harrods, London in 1986, Coppin Johnson Gallery, Durban in 1988, Maxwoods, Cape Town in 1989, Cadres D’Esprit, Switzerland in 1990, The Milkwood Gallery, Cape Town in 1992, The Kalk Bay Gallery, Cape Town in 1995, The Little Gallery, in Johannesburg in 1997, The Gallery on the Side, Johannesburg in 1998, Gallery Monte Casino, Johannesburg in 2000, South African Art Collection, Cape Town in 2002, Gallery Hermanus, Western Cape in 2002, Palm Tree Studio, Noordhoek, Cape Town in 2003, The Vineyard Gallery, Claremont, Cape Town in 2004 and The Vineyard Gallery, Franschhoek, Western Cape in 2006.
Commissions include Christies, Johannesburg International Airport, Rand Water Board, Carlton Paper Head Office, Anglo American Corporation, Sun International S.A., Holiday Inn, Botswana Tourist Board, Old Mutual, South African Reserve Bank and Tusker Tours.
Yoka’s work appears in numerous private collections, including Charlene Tilton and Sir Ronald Rennett, as well as large corporations such as Rank Xerox, Art for Offices, Citibank, First National Bank, Barlow Rand, Unilever, A.J.W. Fine Art USA, Johannesburg International Airport, Young & Rubicam London, McCann Erickson, DeBeers, Castlemain Marine Amsterdam, Anglo American, S.A.A., Board of Executors, Investec, Rand Water Board, Standard Bank, Carlton Paper Head Office and Sappi.
Contact Fine Art Portfolio at info@fineartportfolio.co.za to commission or purchase South African art by Yoka Wright.