SOLO SHOWS
2019
Memories of Dreams, TMRW Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
2017
Nightscapes: Cape Town, Red Bull Studios, Cape Town, South Africa
2016
Nightscapes: Johannesburg, Kalashnikovv Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
GROUP SHOWS
2020
The Matter, Off Dakar Biennale, Dakar, Senegal
154 Contemporary African Art Fair, AFRONOVA GALLERY, La Mamounia, Marrakesh, Morrocco
2019
154 Contemporary African Art Fair, La Mamounia, Marrakesh, Morrocco
Paris Photo, focus Johannesburg, Galerie Magnin-a, Grand Palais, Paris, France
SWAY, NOW Gallery, Centurion, South Africa
2015
If You Leave Showcase, Embassy East, London, UK
2012
Wish You Were Here, an architectural group exhibition focusing on Johannesburg, Wish, Johannesburg, South Africa
Marrakech : La foire 1-54 prend ses quartiers à La Mamounia, Jeune Afrique, February 2020
1-54 Marrakech: que collectionner, Diptyk Magazine, February 2020
Sortir: à Marrakech, le week-end sera arty ou ne sera pas, TelQuel, February 2020
The vivid, sometimes surreal, nightscapes of Johannesburg, The Washington Post, December 2019
Like a love letter to Joburg, this incredible photographer is showing a different side to the city!, GoodThingsGuy, December 2019
10 to see: Paris Photo, Aesthetica magazine, November 2019
Fragments : Une Ville De Nuit Par Elsa Bleda, Partfaliaz, November 2019
Elsa Bleda Turns Cape Town into an Atmospheric “Zone” at Night, The Phoblographer, July 2019
Elsa Bleda, Joburg Nightscapes, Omenka Online, June 2019
Six femmes photographes à découvrir sur Instagram, A Nous Paris, May 2019
Si Johannesburg m’était contée, Afrique in Visu, May 2019
“Midnight Gothic”: Photographer Elsa Bleda Captures South African Johannesburg In Neon Nightscapes, Design You Trust, January 2019
Elsa Bleda Captures Neon-Lit Istanbul in “Mirror World / Istanbul”, The Phoblographer, September 2018
You’ve never seen South Africa like this Before, Hunger, April 2018
Elsa Bleda All strange things happen at night, We Transfer, We Present
Nighttime City Scenes Bathed in Neon by Photographer Elsa Bleda, Colossal, November 2017
Moody Nightscapes Capture City Streets Radiating a Neon Glow Around the World, My Modern Met, November 2017
Electric photos of a neon-lit Johannesburg at night, Dazed, April 2017
17 people who have our attention in 2017, Mail and Guardian, January 2017
Colorful Night Neon Lights of South Africa, Fubiz, November 2016
Photographer, writer, model, mermaid, movie-addict, filmmaker: Trevor Beattie meets Elsa Bleda, The Drum, April 2016
Another Look at our Favorite Neon Smothered Visuals from Elsa Bleda, UNRTD
Fragments, Nightscapes, Johannesburg | 2014 – Ongoing
For the complete digital catalogue, please contact the gallery
Elsa Bleda
Lives and works in Johannesburg.
Elsa Bleda was raised travelling and eventually settled down in South Africa in late 2006 as a teenager. Whilst studying music production, Bleda continued her passion for photography and film. After graduation, Bleda decided on moving forward with visual arts. Her Nightscapes Johannesburg series and dreamy landscapes gained her world wide recognition in both the film and commercial worlds. The subject matter, her home city Johannesburg, became a strong influence on her work as her bond with the city grew stronger. She has developed an unconventional yet strong visual identity over the years and her night works are so aptly described as post-future gothic, uniquely composed through the use of light as well as its absence, in juxtaposition to her daylight works which are often dreamy and softer with color plays and an eerie mood. Along the same timeline, Elsa started working on her Chinatowns of Africa project. Chinatown’s of Africa carries a narrative about foreign minority groups and their existence within African society. Her body of work has attracted major brand collaboration. Her first major collaboration was shooting a global campaign for Apple, focusing on the underground artists of South Africa and was shown on all major billboards around the world. She recently became the face of Lexus’ latest campaign “New Horizons”. New Horizons was created for Lexus’ first female engineered car which was a revolutionary move in the brand’s history, Elsa’s stance as a globally recognized female artist represented this shift visually in the television commercial covering her photographic journey through a city. In 2016, preeminent creative director Trevor Beattie chose Elsa as one of his ‘Famous Five’ and as a result she appeared on the cover of The Drum magazine with a lengthy interview about her being a unique and influential young voice in the industry. Since then she often cites Beattie as her mentor. Elsa had her first solo exhibition in Kalashnikovv Gallery in 2016, showcasing her Nightscapes: Johannesburg series. The exhibition was followed up by Nightscapes: Cape Town in Red Bull Studios. Bleda shifted her focus on technology in the meantime and has collaborated with South African tech companies for immersive experiences. She created her recent solo exhibition in 2019, ‘Memories of Dreams’ in which the subject matter is a spiritual journey through the foggy mountains of Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa. The exhibition had augmented and virtual reality works developed, as well as a physical experience created to illuminate the atmosphere of the photographs exhibited. Bleda has been featured in multiple local and international publications. Elsa is currently working on her photography book to be released in 2021 and her film journey through art-house projects.