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Prof. David Paton

Associate Professor
Name: David Paton
Location: 128, FADA Building Bunting Road Campus
FADA Visual Art Permanent Academic Staff听 Staff Members

Contact Details:
Tel: +27(0)11 559 1118

Email:听诲辫补迟辞苍蔼耻箩.补肠.锄补鈥�

About Prof. David Paton

Year Leader: 2nd Year

Module Leader: Drawing

Lectures in:

Drawing I, II & III

Studio Practice III & IV

Postgraduate Studies鈥嬧��

Qualifications:听BAFA (Wits); HDip.ED (PG) (Wits); MAFA (Wits); Cert HEd.Man (Wits); PhD (Sunderland, UK)

Short Biography:

David Paton is an Associate Professor and past (2004 鈥� 2009) head of the Department of Visual Art at the 欧美福利100000 of Johannesburg, South Africa where he teaches Drawing and Studio Practice at all undergraduate levels. He has also supervised over 20 postgraduate students, six of whom have received the prestigious Chancellor鈥檚 Medal for Meritorious Postgraduate Study. He is also appointed as a Senior Researcher in the Jack Ginsberg Centre for Book Arts (JGCBA), Wits Art Museum (WAM), 欧美福利100000 of the Witwatersrand (Wits), Johannesburg. He received his MAFA at the 欧美福利100000 of the Witwatersrand in 2001 with a dissertation titled ‘South African Artists鈥� Books and Book-objects Since 1960’ and his PhD by Existing Published or Creative Work – awarded with no additions or corrections required – from the 欧美福利100000 of Sunderland, UK in 2019. David has curated numerous exhibitions of the book arts in South Africa and headed the curatorial team which hosted the ‘Booknesses’ exhibitions and colloquium – showcasing both the internationally renowned Jack Ginsberg Collection of Artists鈥� Books as well as South African book art – at the 欧美福利100000 of Johannesburg in 2017. In 2019, David curated ‘Samplings: South African Artists’ Books’ to inaugurate the JGCBA, Wits 欧美福利100000, and was invited to speak at two prestigious conferences in Berkeley, CA and Bremen, Germany. David has authored numerous catalogues of artist鈥檚 book exhibitions, some of which are to be found in prestigious library collections including the Tate Library and Archive, the National Art Library, London, Oxford 欧美福利100000 and the 欧美福利100000 of London; Bibliotheque Nationale de France; Koninklijke Bibliotheek, Den Haag, Netherlands; Harvard, Columbia, Yale, Cornell, Stanford and Princeton Universities, the Getty Library, the Smithsonian Institution, the Thomas J. Watson Library of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Library of Congress, USA. He has also published a number of articles and chapters on the book arts in local and international journals and publications. David is a peer reviewer for the journal de Arte and for NRF rated researcher and creative output applications and is a member of the Editorial and Review Committee for the publication ‘Artist鈥檚 Book Year Book’ (ABYB), UWE, Bristol, UK. His artworks are held in local and international collections including the Johannesburg Art Gallery, Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town, the MTN Collection, Anglo-American Corporation Collection, the Sasol Collection, the Art Bank SA Collection and the Lower East Side Print Cabinet, New York. His artist’s book ‘Speaking in Tongues: Speaking Digitally / Digitally Speaking’ can be found in the collection of the Jack Ginsberg Center for Book Arts, Wits Art Museum, Johannesburg, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Egypt, the San Francisco Center for the Book, USA, the Templeman Library, Canterbury, UK and the von Abbe Museum, Eindhoven, Netherlands. In conjunction with the JGCBA, 欧美福利100000 of the Witwatersrand, he co-hosts the website that received the National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIHSS) award for in 2018. He is twice the recipient of the Ampersand Foundation Fellowship to New York (1999 & 2017) and was awarded the 欧美福利100000 of Johannesburg Vice Chancellor’s Distinguished Award for Teaching Excellence in 2022. David is a National Research Foundation (NRF) C1-Rated Scholar. He is also the father of two sons.

CV:听Access听here

Recent Publications:

  • 2022. Three essays in Materialia Lumina; Contemporary Artists’ Books from the CODEX International Book Fair. Stanford Libraries, Stanford 欧美福利100000 and the CODEX Foundation, Berkeley CA. January 2022. ISBN 978 0 911221 65 7
  • Wolfgang Buchta (pp 227-230)
  • Felicia Rice, Moving Parts Press (pp 267-271)
  • Francoise Despalles and Johannes Strugella, Despalles Editions (pp 338-342).
  • 2022. Journal article. On the Making of Re: A Negotiated Truth. Parenthesis 42 Journal of the Fine Book Association,听UK. Spring 2022 pp4-9. ISSN 1462-9895.
  • 2020. Journal article. The Bookness of a Book: Cataloguing Affect in South African Artists鈥� Books.听Library Trends听68(3):521-548. Winter 2020. Johns Hopkins 欧美福利100000 Press, USA. DOI:听
  • 2017. Exhibition catalogue.听Booknesses: Artists鈥� books from the Jack Ginsberg Collection. Published on the occasion of the exhibition of the same name, organised and curated by David Paton at the 欧美福利100000 of Johannesburg Art Gallery, 25 March 鈥� 5 May. Published by the Department of Visual Art, 欧美福利100000 of Johannesburg. ISBN 978-0-86970-796-8.
  • 2017. Exhibition catalogue chapter. 鈥淪imultaneous journeys: Thematics in the curating of Booknesses: Artists鈥� Books from the Jack Ginsberg Collection鈥�. In:听Booknesses: Artists鈥� books from the Jack Ginsberg Collection, Department of Visual Art, 欧美福利100000 of Johannesburg, South Africa. Pp 18-61. ISBN 978-0-86970-796-8.
  • 2017. Exhibition catalogue.听Artists鈥� books from the Ginsberg Collection, with some South African examples from other collections. Special edition of the original 1996 catalogue published by the Johannesburg Art Gallery. Published on the occasion of thee exhibition, Booknesses: Artists鈥� books from the Jack Ginsberg Collection, 欧美福利100000 of Johannesburg and The Ampersand Foundation (TAF), Johannesburg.
  • 2017. Exhibition catalogue.听Booknesses: Contemporary South African artists鈥� books. Online catalogue published on the occasion of the exhibition of the same name, organised and curated by David Paton, Eugene H枚n and Gordon Froud, FADA Gallery, 欧美福利100000 of Johannesburg, 24 March 鈥� 5 May.
  • 2016. Journal article. Mind & matter: Some South African book-artist鈥檚 experiences with 鈥榦ther鈥� materials. In:听The New Bookbinder, Journal of Designer Bookbinders, Bath, UK. No 36. Pp. 57-62.
  • 2016. Exhibition catalogue chapter. Matisse and the book arts. In:听Henri Matisse Rhythms and Meaning. Standard Bank Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa. 13 July 鈥� 17 September 2016. Pp 117-127. ISBN 978-0-620-68813-0.
  • 2015. Journal article. Dark absurdity: Re-reading the work of Gordon Froud. In:听De Arte, Taylor & Francis, 欧美福利100000 of South Africa. 2015 no 91. Pp. 39-62. ISSN 0004-3389.
  • 2014. Exhibition catalogue. TEXTures: An exhibition of texts, textures and structures in artists鈥� books. Published in conjunction with the exhibition held at the Archives & Special Collections, Library and Information Centre, Doornfontein Campus, 欧美福利100000 of Johannesburg. ISBN: 978-0-86970-779-0.
  • 2013. Journal article. Stimulus/Response: Scratching away at some intrinsic and extrinsic problems in theorising the artist鈥檚 book from the far end of a 鈥榥ot-so-dark continent. In:听Artist鈥檚 Book Yearbook 2014-2015,CFPR, UWE, Bristol, UK. September 2013. Pp. 37-43. ISBN 978-1-906501-07-5.
  • 2012. Journal article. Towards a theoretical underpinning of the book arts: Applying Bakhtin鈥檚 Dialogism and Heteroglossia to selected examples of the artist鈥檚 book. In:听Literator, North West 欧美福利100000, Potchefstroom, South Africa. 2012 33(1) 2012 ISSN 0258-2279. DOI:听
  • 2011. Essay. Artists鈥� books as interpretive acts. In:听Transgressions and boundaries of the page. North West 欧美福利100000. Pp 22-25. ISBN: 978-0-620-50283-2. Available:听
  • 2010. Journal article. The imagistic text in Jonathan Safran Foer: Tracing unconventional texts from Kerouac to the artist鈥檚 book. In:听De Arte, Taylor & Francis, 欧美福利100000 of South Africa 2010 no 81. ISSN 0004-3389. Available:听
  • 2010. Article. The Book as a community of practice: Some thoughts on the research project A manifesto for the book: What will be the canon for the artist鈥檚 book in the 21st century?. In:听On Making. Integrating Approaches to Practice Led Research in Art and Design. 欧美福利100000 of Johannesburg, Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture Research Centre, Visual Identities in Art and Design (VIAD), FADA, 欧美福利100000 of Johannesburg. ISBN: 978-0-620-49738-1. Available:听
  • 2009. Article. Ideologies and identity in digital artists鈥� books: Parallels between Charles Sandison鈥檚 Carmina Figurata at Blood on Paper, V&A, London and Willem Boshoff鈥檚 Kykafrikaans. Peer-reviewed conference proceedings. In:听Imaging Ourselves: Visual Identities in Representation. Research Centre: Visual Identities in Art and Design (VIAD), FADA, 欧美福利100000 of Johannesburg. Pp66-83. Available:听
  • 2008. Journal article. Body, Light, Interaction, Sound: A critical reading of a recent installation of Willem Boshoff鈥檚 Kykafrikaans.In:听Image & Text.欧美福利100000 of Pretoria. 2008 no 14 ISSN 1020 1497. Available:
  • 2007. Journal article. The sound of a book: Sound as generator of narrative in the reception of selected new media objects as books. In:听Image & Text. 欧美福利100000 of Pretoria. 2007 no 13 ISSN 1020 1497. Available:听
  • 2006. Exhibition catalogue.听Navigating the bookscape: Artists鈥� books and the digital interface. Including essays by David Paton, Robyn Sassen & Jack Ginsberg. Available:听

Recent Conference Papers / Public Lectures / Keynote Addresses:听

  • 2022. Conference paper. Glimpses of slippery slivers: Towards appropriate bibliographic description for artists’ books in South Africa. Archives of Print Culture in Southern Africa. 19-20 May. Blended Conference: online and The Rand Club, Johannesburg. 欧美福利100000 of Pretoria, Wits 欧美福利100000 & 欧美福利100000 College London.
  • 2019. Conference paper. Artists鈥� Books in South Africa: Archiving the Output of a Nation. At:听Archives in Motion听conference, Zentrum f眉r K眉nstlerpublikationen / Centre for Artists鈥� Publications, Weserburg Museum f眉r moderne Kunst, Bremen, Germany. 8 -10 November.
  • 2019. Conference paper. The Jack Ginsberg Collection of Artists鈥� Books: 25 years of Working with the Collection in South Africa. At:听CODEX VII 2019. Symposium and Book Fair, Berkley, California, USA. 3 鈥� 6 February.
  • 2018. Conference paper. 鈥淭he shortcoming of this project is鈥︹��: reimagining the role of the artist鈥檚 book in South Africa. At:听Troubling Legacies, South African Visual Arts Historians Conference, Stellenbosch 欧美福利100000, 4 鈥� 6 July.
  • 2017. Keynote address.听Booknesses: The making of a project in 10 (or more) parts. Artists鈥� Books workshop and conference. Departments of Fine Art and Journalism, Rhodes 欧美福利100000, Grahamstown. 15 鈥� 17 September.
  • 2017. Public Lecture.Booknesses: Taking stock of the book arts in South Africa. The Center for Book Arts, New York. 10 May. http://centerforbookarts.org/event/booknesses-taking-stock-of-the-book-arts-in-south-africa/
  • 2017. Conference paper. Simultaneous journeys: Relational thematics in curating the exhibition Booknesses: Artists鈥� Books from the Jack Ginsberg Collection. At:听Booknesses: Taking stock of the book arts in South Africa, Colloquium organised by the Department of Visual Art, 欧美福利100000 of Johannesburg. FADA Auditorium, 24 鈥� 26 March.
  • 2015. Conference paper. A great idea at the time: Cataloguing South Africa鈥檚 artist鈥檚 book production. At:听IFLA World Library and Information Congress 2015, Art Libraries Section, Turning the Tables: Documenting Art in a Global Context. Cape Town, South Africa. Thursday 20 August. Available:听
  • 2013. Public lecture.听Contemplating curiosities in selected recent exhibitions in the United Kingdom in 2013. Lecture #2 in the Contemplations Lecture Series: FADA Auditorium. 欧美福利100000 of Johannesburg. 29th October.
  • 2012. Keynote address.听Anything, everything but conceptual art! At: Independent Examinations Board (IEB) art teachers鈥� annual conference. Birchwood Hotel and Conference Centre, Johannesburg. 4 February.
  • 2012. Conference paper. Artists鈥� books and their aversion to theory: Applying Bakhtin鈥檚 dialogism and heteroglossia to selected examples of the artist鈥檚 book. At:听Visual Dialogues: South Africa in Conversation. The 27th Annual South African Association of Visual Art Historians (SAVAH) Conference, 欧美福利100000 of South Africa, Pretoria, 4 鈥� 7 July.
  • 2009. Conference paper. Towards an Understanding of What a South African Artist鈥檚 Book May Be. At:听Transgressions and Boundaries of the Page, North West 欧美福利100000, 4th March.
  • 2009. Conference paper. The contemporary novel and the artist鈥檚 book: A tentative tracing of shared and undermined conventions in selected examples of both. At:听The politics of change: Looking backwards and forwards. The 25th Annual South African Association of Visual Art Historians (SAVAH) Conference. 欧美福利100000 of Pretoria, 9 鈥� 11 July.
  • 2009. Colloquium paper. UJ鈥檚 MTech in Fine Art: An example of practice-led research. At:听On Making: Integrating Approaches in Practice- Led Research in Art and Design. Colloquium; 欧美福利100000 of Johannesburg, Faculty of Art, Design and Architectures Research Centre, Visual Identities in Art and Design (VIAD), FADA, 欧美福利100000 of Johannesburg, 15 鈥� 16 October 2009.
  • 2007. Conference paper. Navigating the bookscape: Artists鈥� books and the digital interface. At:听73rd IFLA World Library and Information Congress, Durban. 19 鈥� 23 August. Available:听

Selected Curatorial Projects:

  • 2022. Creative Research: The Artists鈥� Books of Veronika Sch盲pers, Robbin Ami Silverberg and Julie Chen. Jack Ginsberg Centre for Book Arts, Wits Art Museum (WAM), 欧美福利100000 of the Witwatersrand, 22 September 鈥� 15 December.
  • 2019. Samplings: South African Artists鈥� Books. Wits Art Museum (WAM), 欧美福利100000 of the Witwatersrand. In conjunction with the launch of the Jack Ginsberg Center for Book Arts, 25 February 鈥� 6 July.听
  • 2017. Booknesses: Artists鈥� Books from the Jack Ginsberg Collection. UJ Art Gallery, 欧美福利100000 of Johannesburg, Johannesburg. 25 March 鈥� 5 May.听
  • 2017. Booknesses: Contemporary South African Artists鈥� Books. FADA Gallery, 欧美福利100000 of Johannesburg, Johannesburg. 24 March 鈥� 5 May.
  • 2017. Booknesses: Investigating the Body. Emandulo, Chris Diedericks and Charles Hobson. Gallery of the SARChI Research Chair in South African Art and Visual Culture, 欧美福利100000 of Johannesburg, Johannesburg. 23 鈥� 31 March.
  • 2014. TEXTures: An Exhibition of Texts, Textures and Structure in Artists鈥� Books. Archives & Special Collections 欧美福利100000 of Johannesburg, Johannesburg. 5 March 鈥� 18 April.听
  • 2006. Navigating the Bookscape: Artists鈥� Books and the Digital Interface. Aardklop Arts Festival, Potchefstroom, 25 鈥� 30 September and the FADA Gallery, 欧美福利100000 of Johannesburg, Johannesburg. 5 鈥� 13 October.听
  • 1996. Artists鈥� Books in the Ginsberg Collection, with some South African Books from Other Collections. Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg. 25 August 鈥� 27th October.听

Selected Recent Exhibitions:

  • 2019.听The Ampersand Foundation: 21 Year Celebratory Exhibition, curated by Gordon Froud. UJ Art Gallery, Johannesburg, 11 Sept 鈥� 9 Oct
  • 2019.听Samplings: South African Artists鈥� Books. Wits Art Museum (WAM), 欧美福利100000 of the Witwatersrand. In conjunction with the launch of the Jack Ginsberg Center for Book Arts, 25 February 鈥� 6 July.
  • 2019.听Huldeblyk (Tribute)听Curated by Elfrieda Dreyer. KKNK Arts Festival, Oudtshoorn. 21 鈥� 27 March.
  • 2018.听Boundless Objects. An exhibition of artists鈥� bookscurated by Hel茅ne van Aswegen. Toffee Gallery, Darling. 4 -13 August. Available:听
  • 2017.听Prescriptions: Artists鈥� books. Curators: Stella Bolaki, Egidija 膶iricait臈, Elspeth Millar, Helen Blomfield. Templeman Library, 欧美福利100000 of Kent, Canterbury, UK. 1 August 鈥� 17 November.听
  • 2017.听Booknesses: Contemporary South African Artists鈥� Books. FADA Gallery, 欧美福利100000 of Johannesburg, Johannesburg.24 March 鈥� 5 May.
  • 2016.听Prescriptions: Artists鈥� books on wellbeing and medicine. Curated by Stella Bolaki and Egidija 膶iricait臈 Beaney House of Art and Knowledge, Canterbury, UK. 22 August 鈥� 25 September. Catalogue at:听also:听and:听
  • 2012.听Coming of Age 鈥� 21 years of Artist Proof Studio. Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg. 8 May 鈥� 6 June.
  • 2011 /听12. JHB Art Fair Fringe: Department of Visual Art Staff & Student Show. Braamfontein, Johannesburg.
  • 2010.听The Fourth Biennale for the Artist鈥檚 Book. Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Alexandria, Egypt. 22 April 鈥� 14 May.
  • 2010.Transgressions and Boundaries of the Page: Oor die Einders van die Bladsy. At: Woordfees: JS Gericke Library, 欧美福利100000 of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch; The Gallery of the North-West 欧美福利100000, Potchefstroom; FADA Gallery, 欧美福利100000 of Johannesburg, Johannesburg. 1 鈥� 6 March; 15 April 鈥� 13 May; 12 鈥� 30 July.
  • 2009 /10.听DADA South?Iziko, South African National Gallery, Cape Town. 12 December 2009 鈥� 28 February.听
  • 2000.听Recon(text)ual.Civic Gallery, Johannesburg. 26 April 鈥� 10 May and Generator Art Space, Newtown, Johannesburg, June.听

My Artworks appear in the following Collections:

  • Anglo-American Corporation, Johannesburg.
  • Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Alexandria, Egypt.
  • .
  • Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town.
  • The Jack Ginsberg Center for Book Arts, Wits Art Museum (WAM), Wits 欧美福利100000, Johannesburg.
  • Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg.
  • Lower Eastside Printshop Print Cabinet, New York.
  • Mary Austin Collection, San Francisco Centre for the Book, San Francisco, CA, USA
  • MTN Collection, Johannesburg.
  • Shumann Sasol Collection.
  • 欧美福利100000 of Johannesburg Collection, Johannesburg.
  • Templeman Library, 欧美福利100000 of Kent, Canterbury, UK.
  • Van Abbe Museum, Eindhoven, The Netherlands

听See my academic and professional profiles at: