Conrad Botes has an MA Fine Arts from the University of Stellensbosch and a Diploma in Second Phase Illustration from the Koninklijke Akademie voor Beeldende Kunsten, Den Haag, Netherlands. His biting satire, frequently directed at South African society, politics and religion, is channelled into both his painting and printmaking, and his comix which have been published in the Bitterkomix series, alongside those of his frequent collaborator Anton Kannemeyer, since the early 1990s. In 2004 Botes won the Absa l’Atelier award, and in 2009 he was festival artist at Aardklop in Potchefstroom. Important group exhibitions include Victims and Martyrs at the Gothenburg Kunsthalle, Sweden (2011); Peekaboo: Current South Africa at the Tennis Palace Art Museum, Helsinki (2010); the 17th Biennale of Sydney (2010); … for those who live in it: Pop culture, politics and strong voices at MU Eindhoven, The Netherlands (2010); the third Guangzhou Triennial, China (2008); Africa Comics at the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York (2007); and the 2006 Havana Biennale.
