(b.1965 Durban, South Africa)

My work reflects the reciprocal devotion I experience with the animals I share my life with, ideas of empathic relationships between species, as well as envisioning a more-than-human future and the acknowledging of the interconnectivity of all life forms. Currently through exploring dreams in other life forms, I want to invite the questions: where there is dreaming, there too must be a kind of consciousness, an emotional intelligence, and an awareness of self. How do these strange and beautiful oneiric journeys manifest in different life forms? It is evident in the physical body, a paw or nose twitching, but the sensory experience of the oneiric states is beautifully intangible and only knowable by the dreamer.

How artists make sense of these imperceptible spaces adds value to scientific findings, as well as the deeper philosophical debates. Scientists are starting to discover more evidence of dreaming in creatures, and this needs much more attention as it has ramifications beyond my own investigations. There is a shifting perspective on how animals are understood and treated, with the ambitions to embody a more inclusive non-hierarchical multi species future. 

Nicola Bailey 2024.

A multi-media interdisciplinary artist, Bailey began her art tuition in 1997 at Ruth Prowse Art College in Cape Town South Africa. Since 2008 she has been part of an art collective founded by Rose Shakinovsky and Claire Gavronsky, collectively known as Rosenclaire which is based in both Florence Italy and South Africa.

At first blush, Bailey’s first solo was held in 2014 at The Culture Gallery at Woodstock Exchange Cape Town, South Africa. In 2020 she presented a solo And the Animal Responded for Cubicle Series at Everard Read Gallery Cape Town. The tenderness of ghosts opening May 2022, is Bailey’s first solo at Everard Read in Johannesburg.

Selected group exhibitions include Domestic departures at the Forge in Cape Town in 2011, In Good Company (curated by Michael Chandler) at The Irma Stern Museum in Cape Town in 2013. Art/Out of the Ordinary (curated by Marilyn Martin) at the Association of Visual Arts (AVA) in Cape Town. Conversations with Irma (curated by Christopher Peter) at The Irma Stern Museum in 2019.

Living and working in Cape Town, Nicola’s artworks are collected both locally and internationally. 

EDUCATION

1984-86

Ruth Prowse Art College, Cape Town, South Africa

2008

Rose Shakinovsky and Claire Gavronsky, collectively known as Rosenclaire

2024  

Postgraduate Diploma, Michaelis Art School University of Cape Town, South Africa

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2024

Sublime Spirits, Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York, USA.

Johannesburg Art Fair, Everard Read Gallery Main Booth, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Latitudes Art Fair, Everard Read Gallery Sculpture Garden, Johannesburg, South Africa.

2023

The Other’s Warmth:  Group exhibition, Everard Read Gallery. Cape Town, South Africa.

A Gentle Entanglement Everard Read Gallery. Cape Town, South Africa.

2022  

The tenderness of ghosts, Everard Read Gallery. Johannesburg, South Africa.

2021      

OASIS 25th Anniversary Exhibition, Everard Read Gallery. Cape Town, South Africa.

WINTER Group exhibition, Everard Read London, UK.

Art on Paper, Kalk Bay Modern. Cape Town South Africa.

2020      

SUMMER Group exhibition, Everard Read Gallery. Cape Town, South Africa.

SOLO And the Animal Responded, Cubicle Series, Everard Read Gallery. Cape Town, South Africa.

2019      

Conversations with Irma, Irma Stern Museum. Cape Town, South Africa.

2018      

Art on Paper, Kalk Bay Modern. Cape Town, South Africa.

2017      

Mixed Metaphors, The Forge. Kalk Bay. Cape Town, South Africa.

2016      

Art|Out of the Ordinary, AVA Gallery. Cape Town, South Africa.

2014      

SOLO At first Blush, The Culture Gallery, Woodstock. Cape Town, South Africa.

2013

My Mothers Garden, Arts on Main. Johannesburg, South Africa.

In Good Company, Irma Stern Museum. Cape Town, South Africa.

2012

Domestic departures, Kalk Bay Modern. Cape Town, South Africa.

COLLECTIONS

The Enthoven Collection, South Africa

Gerry Fox Collection, UK.

The R Oppenheimer Collection, South Africa

The H Rupert Collection, South Africa