Biography

Michael Beckurts (b. 2000, South Africa)

Since graduating in 2021 from the Cape Town Creative Academy, Michael has been a full time visual artist working in ceramic underglaze, oils, charcoal, watercolour, and digitally.

Michael’s luminous, vivid scenes are defined by rapid mark-making and considered composition. Depicting meaningful places, gatherings, and self-portraits, his work reflects his connection to people and nature. A recent conceptual shift moves his practice from observer to participant, asserting his presence within the world and marking a transition from absence to intentional self-representation.

Michael has had four solo exhibitions: Archives at the Test Kitchen, Woodstock (2021), Portraits of Nature, Portraits of Places at MOK Gallery, Stellenbosch (2022), Remember to Play at Openwine, Wale Street (2023), and Vivacity at AVA Gallery, Cape Town (2024). Michael participated in the Baz Art International Public Arts Festival in Cape Town in 2019 and 2023. He was a participant in the 2023 Sessions Programme for Visual Artists led by Dominique Edwards and was represented by the AVA Gallery at the RMB Latitudes Art Fair in Johannesburg (2024). Michael’s latest exhibition, Building Mirrors, Carrying Souls (2026) consisting of watercolours and painted ceramics, was a collaboration with acclaimed ceramicist Karlien van Rooyen at Knysna Fine Art.

An important part of Michael’s practice is creating commissioned pieces for private clients and live drawing performances during music events. Clients include The Luke Dale-Roberts Group, Boschendal, The Marble Group, Openwine and The Cape Town Jazz Festival. His paintings are featured in national and international collections, including the Spier Arts Trust and the Frank Kilbourn Collection.

In the words of critic Ashraf Jamal, “Beckurts’ art draws us towards what we long for most – stillness, with all its tremulous vivacity. [He] is a marvel of promise in an embittered world.”