James Beckett
b. 1977, Harare, Zimbabwe
Currently lives and works in Amsterdam and London

Education / Residency:
2013
Wysing Arts Centre, Cambridge
2009
Kunstlerhäuser Worpswede, Sound residency, Worpswede
2008
International Residence, Récollets, Paris
2001-2002
Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam
1996-1999
Technikon Natal, BAFA (degree), Durban

Solo Exhibition:
2017
The Guiness Curse, T293, Rome
2016
Palace Ruin, Public Art Project, Amsterdam
2014
Forced readings, Lookout, Aldenburgh
Dowsing Schools: Preliminary Findings and Corresponding Survey Kit, The Physics Room, Christchurch
Dowsing Schools: Preliminary Findings and Corresponding Survey Kit, Artspace, Auckland
KaVo Zahnarztstuhl Regie 1520 A, Wilfried Lentz, Rotterdam
2013
Coffrefort, That’s That, That Way ‚Round, Basically – As You Probably Know, Artists Club, Brussels
Passionate Advocate for a Poisoned Earth, TWAAS, New York
2012
Of Animal and Inventory, Blank Projects, Cape Town
Door and Milk Permutations, Lüttgenmeijer, Berlin
2011
My Friend Andre’s Grandmother’s Sawmill, Neuer Kunstverein, Vienna
Khevsurvite Derivative (potential dwellers in ravines), T293, Rome
2010
Pairs and Stacks, Hilversum Museum, Hilversum
Zaklady na Zycie (Plant-Life): Wilfried Lentz, Rotterdam
2009
Bagnoli and Italsider (as extract-arrangement): T293, Naples
2008
Limburgerhof (the agricultural extract-arrangements), Wilfried Lentz, Rotterdam
Dalmine (and other industry extract-arrangements), Lüttgenmeijer, Berlin
Spade Scrapes 1-6, Van Zijll Langhout expositities, Amsterdam
2007
Living Registration, T293, Naples
2006
Living Registration, Bürofriedrich, Berlin
Untitled Cut-up, Natal Society of Arts, Durban
2003
Climb on Shoulders to Peep Over and Dismount with Lips in Hedge, NICC at the Koninklijk Museum Voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp
2002
Extract-Arrangements, PLUS Gallery, Düsseldorf
1999
Home,Natal Society of Arts, Durban
Breathing Space, The Yard, B/W Photography, London
Breathing Space, Natal Society of Arts/ Palmer street studios, Durban

Group Exhibition:
2017
Utopia/Dystopia, MAAT - Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology, Lisbon
Survival Guide, Art Gallery of Alberta, Edmonton
2016
What Next - picture tomorrow - The Crash (part 4),m 38CC, Delft
Apprentice/Master ‚20, Kunst Podium T, Tilburg
Hospice (in collaboration with Artun Alaska Arasli), Wilfried Lentz, Rotterdam
Art of control, Hacking Habbit, Utrecht
2015
Next Day, Wilfried Lentz, Rotterdam
Hospice (in collaboration with Artun Alaska Arasli), Markus Lüttgen, Cologne
Colmare il bocciolo/Combattere il verme/Regolare il calore/Eludere il vento/Sfuggire all’ape, Icastica, Arezzo
A4 MULTIPLE (5), SMAK - Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst, Gent
Between Pessimism of the Intellect and the Optimism of the Will, 5th Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki
Personne et les autres, Belgian Pavillon, 56th Venice Biennale, Venice
2014
Homing, Wilfried Lentz, Rotterdam
A Thousand Varied Uses, NoguerasBlanchard, Madrid
Annals of the Twenty-Ninth Century, Wysing Arts Centre, Cambridge
2013
Scenographies, Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amsterdam
Liquid Assets, Der Steirische Herbst, Graz
Dread, De Hallen, Haarlem
Artificial Amsterdam, De Appel, Amsterdam
2012
to scrap a proportion, Wilfried Lentz, Rotterdam
Beyond Imagination, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
Wattis, San Fransisco
Dak’art, African Biennale, Dakar
2011
Section Folklorique, Zeeuws Museum, Middelburg
La Fabrique Sonore, Domain Pommery, Reims
Civic Virtue, Stadtgallerie Villa Dessauer, Bamberg
XV Unidentified Species, Galleria Boavista, Lisbon
New Existentialism, Part 2, ALTEFABRIK, Rapperswil-Jona
Historical Structures - New Existentialism Part 2, Kurator, Zürich
2010
Playground - Zaklady na Zycie (Plant-Life), Stuk, Leuven
Gold for wood, Veemvloer, Amsterdam
Doodgewoon, Hilversum Museum, Hilversum
Capturing Metamorphosis, Allard Pierson Museum, Amsterdam
Woodman, Woodman, Spare That Tree, Lüttgenmeijer, Berlin
Tutta la memoria del mondo, GAM - Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderne e Contemporanea, Turin
2009
Not created by a Human Hand, Wilfried Lentz, Rotterdam
Faux Frères, Galerie In Situ, Aalst
Blinds, Festival aan de Werf, Utrecht
Open Source Biennial of Art in Public, Amsterdam
Straat van Scuptuuren, CBK, Biljmer, Amsterdam
2008
Spades Scrapes 1-6, Romanian Biennial of Young Artists, Bucharest
For the First and the Second Time, CAC, Vilnius
2007
Between Thought and Sound, The Kitchen, New York
Sites and Traces, Universal Studios/ Boers-Li, Beijing
A for Alibi, Uqubar Foundation, De Appel, Amsterdam
Museum of Noise (with Mark Bain), Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne
Return of the Gastarbeiter, Kucevo
2006
Vacuum 2, Façade piece for VHDG, Leeuwarden
2005
Map to Sine (at Adam), SMART Project Space, Amsterdam
Radio Days (four radio programs), De Appel, Amsterdam
Pioneer (premiere screening of the Dutch Open), De Balie, Amsterdam
Low Tech, Arte Arti Et Amicitiae, Amsterdam
2004
Hit and Run, Platform Garanti and Smart Project Space, Istanbul
Values, 11th Serbian Biennale Visual Arts, Pancevo
City/Object Observation (DAI/NAI), Nanjing Art Institute, Nanjing
2003
Vacuum, Opkomst Yaarbeurs, Utrecht
A Partial Museum of Noise, Prix de Rome, Gem - Museum of Contemporary Art, Den Haag
Emmaus-Ölberg-Gemeinde, Death, Berlin
2002
Rendevous, Centre for Contemporary European Art, Xiamen
Documenta 11, collaboration with Narcisse Tordoir in ‘shop’ of Meschac Gaba, Kassel
Bessengue City, temporary radio station, Doula
Filiale Afrika, Sparkasse, Düsseldorf
Noise of Coincidence, Cucosa Contemporary Art Space, Rotterdam
A Haunted house of Art, Outline Project Space, Amsterdam
2001
Home Made, Stichting V/H de Gemeente, Leeuwarden
Karl Hofer Society (with Khwezi Gule and Robin Rhode), Berlin
CLICK, Centre Soeleil d’Afrique, Bamako
Adrift, Las Palmas, Rotterdam
2000
Pulse, NSA, Rijksakademie R.A.I.N., Durban
1999
Graduates of Natal Tech., Civic Centre, Johannesburg
1998
Black and Blue, Palmer Street Studios, Durban
1997
Thirty Seven Songs, Curated 37 artist, Durban
‘Stel Hotten Totten Ten Ten Toon’, Collaboration with Sandberg Institute, Bat Centre, Durban

Fellowships / Awards
2003
Winner Prix de Rome, Art and Public Space, Amsterdam
2002
Stipend Rijksakademie Beeldende Kunsten/ Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture/ Science, Amsterdam
Grant National Arts Council, Johannesburg
2001
Grant Ernest Oppenheimer Memorial Trust, Johannesburg
Stipend Rijksakademie Beeldende Kunsten/ Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture/ Science, Amsterdam
1999
Emma-Smith scholarship, Durban

Concerts / Lectures / Performances / Workshops
2009
Calling out of Context, three concerts of Beckett, ICA, London
Pecha Kucha, Architecture Biennale, NAI, Rotterdam
2007
Circalles, Stage and Light with Martijn Tellinga, Huis ad Werf, Utrecht
2006
Lucier in Taiwan, concept and leader of sound workshop, Taipei
Loss of meaning in Language, Delft Architecture Dept. Delft
2005
Practicum 05a/06a, Nadine Project Space, Brussels
2004
City/Object Observation, Nanjing University, lecture /sound work shop, Nanjing
2003
Schoenberg /Gamelan imposition, concert, Baby, Amsterdam
Fridge, Lost and Found, concert, Amsterdam
Netherlands Architecture Institute, concert, Rotterdam
2002
International Art practice, seminar, Alliance Francais, Yaoudé
Monoculture, Stubnitz.nl/NDSM-WERF, concert, Amsterdam
Mantra for Motors, concert, Rijksakademie, Amsterdam
Muntplein, concert, Muntplein, Amsterdam
1999
Salt, performance, National Art Gallery, Durban

Curated Exhibitions
2013
‘to scrap a proportion’, Wilfried Lentz, Rotterdam
2012
This Mortal Coil, at the Taut and Tame, Berlin
2007
Here as the Centre of the World, in collaboration with the Dutch Art institute, 50 artists from: The Netherlands, Turkey, Taiwan, Syria, Lebanon and Sudan, Enschede
Sirens, an evolution from water, through water, to water, 66-East, Amsterdam
2006
Lucier in Taiwan, Artists from the Netherlands and Taiwan, Taipei
1997
Thirty Seven Songs, 37 local artists, Durban

Publications
2013
Monograph: “work of James Beckett, with constant interjections by Frank Key”, Westreich Wagner Publications, New York
2009
Monograph: James Beckett 1998- 2008, Kehre, Heidelberg
Transcriptons 1-6, James Beckett
2007
Museum of Noise, Mark Bain and James Beckett, Köln
A-for Alibi, Uqbar foundation, De Appel, Amsterdam
Sirens, Catalogue of the curated exhibition, Amsterdam
2005
Radiodays, Stichtung De Appel, Amsterdam
Open, SKOR, Amsterdam
2004
Hit and Run, Smart projects in Istanbul, Istanbul
Values, Catalogue, 11th Serbian Bianale Pancevo, Serbia
Very Real Time,initiation of Gregg Smith, RAIN, Cape Town
2003
A Partial Museum of Noise, Catalogue 06, initiation of Will Holder, Amsterdam
Prix de Rome, Sculpture, Art and Public Space, Amsterdam
2001
Home Made, Stichting V/H de Gemeente, Leeuwarden
2000
Pulse, initiation of Greg Streak, RAIN, Durban

Articles / Reviews
2013
review mention, ‘A Light Hand’ – New York Times
2011
review, History Maker, Metropolis-M, Alexander Mayhew
2008
review, Dalmine, Art-Review, Astrid Mania, International
review, Limburgerhof, Kunstbeeld
2007
review, Living Registration, Art Forum, Eugineo Viola
2006
review, Living Registration, Vonhundert Berlin, Astrid Mania
review, Living Registration, Zitty, city guide Berlin
review, Museum of Noise, Roland Schappert, Kunstforum
review, Nebenwirkungen, Koelischer Rundschau
review, Das Brummen von 220 Volt, Koelner Stadanzeiger
review, Hiding in plain View, Mail and Guardian, Alex Sudheim
review, Untitled Cut-up, artthrob, Dean Henning
2003
article, Prix De Rome, Ina Boiten, Art and Public Space
articles, Mark Kremer and Ansuya Blom, NICC
review, Beeldende Beckett, Scherpa, Daily Paper