Luan Nel

Born 1971 in Johannesburg, South Africa

Lives and works in Cape Town, South Africa


Luan Nel received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of the Witwatersrand in 1993. In 1994 he completed his Higher Diploma in Education (Post-Graduate) also from the same university in Johannesburg, South Africa. He started his own practice during this time with his first Solo Exhibition held in 1994 at the Johannesburg Planetarium.

Nel participated in the residency program at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam in 1998 and 1999 under the guidance of advisors Luc Tuymans, Dan Graham and Matt Mullican, amongst others. He participated in a research residency at the Dutch Institute in Rome in 1999 and in 2001 he participated in the inaugural outdoor sculpture and installation exhibition: Lustwarande: Pleasure Garden, in Tilburg, The Netherlands, curated by Marianne Bruwer and Chris Driessen. Participating Artists included Louise Bourgeois and Michelangelo Pistoletto. 

In 1993 Nel was awarded First Prize at the SASOL New Signatures Competition. Nel also wrote for the daily Die Burger and the magazine The Lake as well as various online publications. In November of 2020, along with his partner and spouse, Neil Pendock, founded NEL, an artist-owned and directed art gallery in the heart of the city of Cape Town. During 2019 and 2020 he also participated in the Spier Light Art Exhibition in Stellenbosch, South Africa curated by Jay Pather and Vaughn Sadie. More recently he has been selected as Festival Artist for Inniebos Arts festival 2024

For the past three years, Nel in collaboration with an editor, Brenton Maart (who curated the South African Pavilion at the 53rd Venice Biennale) has also worked on and published a book on the Artist’s practice of 30 years: ISBN: 978-0-620-93435-0. His work is present in both public and private collections such as KPMG, The WITS Art Museum (WAM) the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten, the South African Broadcasting Corporation, Spier, Smithsonian, SANLAM, The Victoria and Albert Museum, Hollard and the Johannesburg Art Gallery.


Artist Website

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1971 -
Nationality: South African
Residence: Cape Town, South Africa

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