Location: South Africa
Grady T Zeeman (b South Africa) is a contemporary painter who graduated from Cape Technicon as a Fashion Designer in 1988. She worked as a designer in Cape Town, before marriage and moving back to her home town.
As painting was her first love, she decided to give it more attention. She earnestly developed her technical skills in oil painting, and broadened her knowledge through courses in Art History, navigating the art world and curating exhibitions.
In 2008, she had her first international group exhibition in India, and in October 2020 her first solo exhibition in Rome, Italy. She has participated in various exhibitions in South Africa, USA, UK, Europe, and Asia. Zeeman has also taken part in the Florence Biennale 2011, Siel de Paris 2012, London Biennale 2019, and Amsterdam Art Fair 2019.
Her work has been published in NY Arts Magazine, South African Art Times, Arttour International Magazine (mentioned as a Top Artist to watch in 2018 and 2024), “50 Artists to Watch” 2023 edition by Florence Contemporary, as well as numerous other books and magazines. She has received several art prizes and has been a finalist in a couple of art competitions, as well as a Finalist in the Global Art Awards in Dubai 2017.
From 2011 to 2017 Zeeman was the owner of the Kunstehuijs Art Gallery where she exhibited her own work, as well as the work of other South African artists.
In our modern era of technology and digital connection, true human communication and meaningful interaction have often become elusive. Despite being more "connected" than ever before through smartphones, social media, andendless messaging platforms, many people feel increasingly isolated, misunderstood, and starved for genuine interaction.
Effective communication is the foundation of strong and healthy connections, yet too many individuals struggle to express their thoughts, feelings, and needs. Addressing the issue of poor communication requires fostering self-awareness, improving active listening skills, and creating safe spaces for open and honest dialogue, which unfortunately is rarely mastered.
With this painting, I explore the rifts that the digital divide can create within our personal relationships. In our modern world, people are often engaged, sharing ideas, and strengthening bonds through technology, yet they so often miss opportunities for deep, in-person connections right in front of them.
The generational divide is a universal experience that transcends time and culture. In this painting, I aim to explore the complexities of the generation gap - the disconnect in values, perspectives, and modes of communication that can arise between older and younger individuals, further aggravated by the rapid pace of technological advancement.
In this painting, though the figures are close, their body language and averted gazes suggest a profound disconnect. They inhabit the same physical space but exist in their own mental and emotional realms, unable or unwilling to truly engage with one another.
This painting captures the agonizing disconnect between a couple who used to be intimate partners. The gulf between them is palpable, a chasm that neither seems able or willing to bridge. This work explores the profound loneliness that can arise when one person emotionally withdraws, leaving the other to wrestle with feelings of abandonment and hopelessness.
This painting explore the profound silence that can develop between two people who once shared everything. Engrossed in their individual digital lives, this work captures that moment when silence transforms from comfortable to suffocating, when the weight of unspoken words becomes too heavy to bear. This work serves as a meditation on the gradual erosion of intimacy, the way love can slip through fingers like sand, not in dramatic storms, but in the quiet moments of disconnection that accumulate over time
“Digital Divide”
“Generation Gap”
“Disconnected Dialogues”
“Hopeless Interchange”
“Unspoken Divide”
