From Hylton Nel’s giant sculptures taking centre stage at the Dior Men summer show to Andile Dyalvane’s latest solo exhibition in New York, South African ceramicists are making an international splash. We’ve rounded up several talented locals who need to be on your radar.
WORDS Jo Buitendach PHOTOS Drien Dirand/Dior; Elizabeth Carababas/Southern Guild; Hayden Phipps/Southern Guild; Thakatha Repro (Pillar IV)
Hylton Nel
Hylton Nel’s name has, without a doubt, been on every fashionista and art aficionado’s lips recently. Born in 1941, Hylton lives and works on the outskirts of Calitzdorp in the Klein Karoo. While he has long been a respected artist, it’s his most recent collaboration that has resulted in a new level of fame and “collectability”: six massive versions of the ceramicist’s iconic cats transformed the runway at the Dior Men Summer 2025 show in Paris last year. “Hylton Nel’s giant cats on the catwalk are based on ones from my collection and Hylton’s,” says Kim Jones, artistic director at Dior Men, of the collaboration. “These are the cats that spoke to me the most… they meowed to me!” Hylton is also well known for his quirky yet beautiful plates, bowls and vases. hyltonnel.co.za | stevenson.info
Zizipho Poswa
Mthatha-born, Cape Town-based Zizipho Poswa is best known for large-scale ceramic and bronze sculptures that are a bold declaration of African womanhood. Her practice reflects a personal journey that pays homage to her Xhosa culture and spiritual traditions. Her work can be found in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Art Institute of Chicago, and she has had solo shows in both New York and Los Angeles. Zizipho’s Lobi (2024) was on display at the public-art initiative Frieze Sculpture in London last year. The colossal ceramic and bronze sculpture is more than 2.5m tall, and is a reproduction of the ornate hairpin worn by the Lobi people of southwestern Burkina Faso. The clay body was made during a residency in California, where Zizipho had access to immense kilns that enabled her to scale up her work. southernguild.com | imisoceramics.co.za
Andile Dyalvane
Born in 1978 in Ngobozana, a small village in the Eastern Cape, Andile Dyalvane is indisputably one of South Africa’s leading ceramic artists. Guided by a deep spiritual connection to his Xhosa ancestors, he sees his large-scale ceramics as a metaphorical vessel through which to honour his traditions and share his journey of healing. In 2005, Andile co-founded Imiso Ceramics with Zizipho Poswa; their handmade collections of tableware and vessels have since garnered an international following. Andile latest solo show, “OoNomathotholo: Ancestral Whispers”, features a new body of work, and is his fourth exhibition with the Friedman Benda gallery in New York. southernguild.com | imisoceramics.co.za
Madoda Fani
Raised in Gugulethu township in Cape Town, Madoda Fani is known for his hand-coiled, burnished, smoke-fired pieces – a contemporary evolution of traditional Nguni ceramics. Madoda was a finalist in Loewe Foundation Craft Prize in 2022, and his work is part of the collections of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Loewe Foundation. He has also participated in residency programmes in Argentina, France, Austria and Mexico. In August last year he took part in the 2nd Indian Ocean Craft Triennial in Western Australia, where he’s been the artist-in-residence at Denmark Arts. southernguild.com
Frances Goodman
Johannesburg-based artist Frances Goodman’s work includes installations, photography, sculptures and ceramics. She focuses primarily on women and on contemporary notions of beauty and desire, and is interested in female identity as well as the anxieties that manifest as a result of media and societal expectations. Danish gallery Specta presented two of Frances’s latest ceramic works at last year’s Frieze Sculpture in London’s Regent’s Park. Frances’s “Pillars” – Pillar IV (MF) and Pillar V (Come Undone) – are meticulously assembled and stacked ceramic structures of pills and tablets, grouped by shape, colour and size to form Jenga-like towers. According to Frances, they can “kill your pain, help you get high, calm you down, or stabilise your mind”… francesgoodman.com | frieze.com | specta.dk
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