Carl Leopold Roberts

Carl Leopold Roberts completed his Master of Fine Arts degree at Rhodes University in 1993 following a successful undergraduate period earning the Purvis Prize for the best all round Fine Art student in 1984, obtaining his Academic Half Colours in the same year and a Rhodes University scholarship in 1985. Roberts worked as a fireman, truck driver and assistant manager on a dairy farm before making a career commitment to art. He lectured in the Fine Art Departments at the Universities of Durban-Westville, Rhodes and Natal for eight years before making the decision to become a full time artist in 1995. Robert describes his artistic inspiration and methodology as:


I work like the automatic artist of the Surrealist movement in that I trust my subconscious to generate ideas. The emphasis is on the ‘magic, accidental, irrational and symbolic associations and dreams’. Like the Rorschach (ink blot) test, the material often suggests images and sometimes presents them in an unusual way. The image made depends ultimately upon what lies in the subconscious, elements of chance and the spirit of the times.


Roberts has participated in many exhibitions nationally and in a number of international exhibitions. He recently held his first solo exhibition at the Bonisa Gallery in 2005. His work can be seen in public collections in Durban, Pietermaritzburg, Pretoria and East London as well as in the ABSA Bank collection. For many years he has worked on the committee of the African Art Centre in Durban and he is actively involved on the council of the KwaZulu-Natal Society of Arts (formerly NSA). He is married to Joanna and has two children, Lily and Jack.

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