Karel Nel
b. 1955
Natal, South Africa

Karel Nel is an artist, art historian and curator. A lecturer in fine arts at the University of Witwatersrand, he has a bachelor of fine arts from the University of Witwatersrand and further degrees from St. Martins School of Art , London (1978-79) and the University of California, Berkeley (M.F.A., 1989). Nel has exhibited his work for nearly 20 years in South Africa, Europe and the United States.

Blueprint of the Table House
1995
Pastel and pigment on bonded fiber fabric
212.5 x 154.5 cm (83 11/16 x 60 13/16 in.)
96-31-2, museum purchase
(on view September 2001-January 2002)

This work alludes to the complex and tortured history of Robben Island--a site used variously as a refuge, infirmary and military base, but perhaps best known as a prison for political figures, including Nelson Mandela.