Tyrone Appollis is a South African artist and poet. He studied art at the Community Arts Project under Cecil Skotnes between 1982 and 1987. He was active in the formation of the Mitchells Plain Art Group in 1988. He has held numerous local and international art exhibitions, and in 2008 released his first volume of poetry.
Community Work
1994 Large mural for the University of the Western Cape 1997 Commissioned by the City to do “Freedom of the City” painting of Bishop Tutu. 1999 Spent year teaching and motivating disadvantaged children music and painting in the Cape Flats. Book jacket cover for renowned poet James Matthews “The Party is Over” 2000 Built a monument for the “Trojan Horse” commemorating the death of children killed in apartheid era.
Selected Exhibitions
1982 Rocklands Library, Mitchells Plain, Cape. 1988 Solo exhibition, South African Association of Arts, Cape Town Luxurama Theatre, Wynberg, Cape University of the Western Cape, mural. 1989 British Council Offices, Johannesburg Rahmen Galerie, Langei, Germany 1990 Solo exhibition, South African Association of Arts, Worcester, Cape The Conservatoire of Music, Windhoek 1991 South African Triennial 1992 Solo Exhibition, Chelsea Gallery, Wynberg, Cape 1993 Solo Exhibition, Karen McKerron Gallery, Johannesburg Salon Biennial, Grand Palais, Paris, France 1997 Solo exhibition South African Association of Arts, Cape Town
Works Appearing on Book Jackets
Contrast Magazine – 1985/1986
Emergency by Richard Rive
Ten Years of Staffrider, 1988
A Walk in the Night and Stone Country, by Alex la Guma;
The Struggle for District Six – Hands Off District Six Committee
2010: Friends pitch in for jazz maestro cancer 2009: Cultural vagabond has his own flair, Cape Times, August 27. T Appollis, , Cambridge University Press, Cape Town. Appollis & Maclay-Mayers, The Magic Paintbrush, Cambridge University Press, Cape Town. S Hundt, Decade, Sanlam Life Insurance, Bellville. 2008: Tyrone Appollis, Train to Mitchells Plain, Tyrone Appollis, Cape Town. Appollis art exhibition, Cape Times, September 9. 2006: S Hundt, Tyrone Appollis-Today and yesterday, Sanlam Life Insurance, Bellville. Appollis presents a study of contradictions, Cape Argus, September 1. Mario Pissarra, Botaki Exhibition 4: Conversation with Tyrone Appollis, Old Mutual Asset Managers, Cape Town. 2005: C Blum, Kapkunst/Cape Art: 12 Portraits of South African Artists, Murmann, Hamburg. Mario Pissarra, Botaki: Exhibition 2: Conversations with Sophie Peters, OMAM, Cape Town. 2004: M Darrol et al., Art for Aids Orphans Auction, Paperback, Cape Town. Mario Pissarra, Botaki: Conversations with South African artists, OMAM, Cape Town. The rights of a child, Kwela Books, Cape Town & Lemniscaat, Rotterdam. 2003: McGee and Voyiya, The Luggage is Still Labelled: Blackness in South african Art. 1993: M Martin et al., Made in Wood: Work from the Western Cape, South African National Gallery, Cape Town. 1991: C Till et al., Cape Town Triennial, Rembrandt van Rijn Art Foundation, Cape Town. Tribute Magazine. A Sitas, William Zungu-Xmas Story, Buchu Books, Cape Town. 1988: G Ogilvie, The Dictionary of South African Painters and Sculptors, Everard Read, Johannesburg. An Oliphant, Ten Years of Staffrider, Ravan Press, Johannesburg. R Rive, Emergency, David Philip Publishers, Claremont.
