FRINGE, South Africa’s most renowned pop artist is an anonymous figure known as Fringe. His large-scale artworks on canvas are devoted to the common good, and human bonds.

Fringe’s obsession with our ambivalence to fame, fortune and conspicuous consumption is in itself never obvious. Rather, his message is buried within his compositions that feature a coded cast of world famous pop characters, arranged to bamboozle and entertain.

In his multimedia works, the clash of icons and symbols causes a resounding visual explosion. Fringe’s slogans are visual challenges placed to intrigue and disrupt. Borrowed from high and low culture -- textbooks, television, adverts, signage and magazines – they are like instructions on packaging, or directions in a shopping mall.

The monumentalizing of brands and logos keeps us wondering who is in charge – wondering exactly who is boss.

Fringe is the pseudonym of South Africa’s most successful pop artist. His story is a combination of high output and well-timed solo exhibitions that have launched his signature series’. His singular style has become identifiable as artist’s alone. Born in 1976 in South Africa, he migrated from graphic design to art production, using branding in conjunction with provocative imagery to produce unique multimedia pieces and sculptures. Moving from commercial graphics to the pop art gallery context, from 2017 to 2020 Fringe enjoyed three sold-out solo exhibitions in South Africa. His work has been exhibited on private shows and auctions in Europe -- in Germany, France, Austria and the United Kingdom – and in Australia. The White Room Gallery is the 1st US gallery to feature his work.

Artist Statement

In the hazy dawn of my existence, a blind panic engulfed me, a symphony of stress in financial strains, love's tumult, familial expectations, and the relentless demands of work. Yet, in the crucible of chaos, I found a strange addiction to the stress, a fire that fuelled my journey. As society transformed, stress became a coveted elixir, stored in a cabinet to shape it into a tool for world dominance. The age of suppression faded, giving way to the era of the hungry man – Stress Narcotika, where overthinking became the currency of constant growth. In the realm of Stress Narcotika, each heartbeat is a drum in the symphony of chaos, and every challenge is a potion brewing for the addicted soul. It's a world where stress transforms into a potent mixture, propelling the seeker toward the intoxicating heights of constant growth and dominance.

Welcome to the age where stress is not the enemy but the coveted fuel for the hungry hearts - Fringe

An easily defined trailblazer in the global contemporary art scene, Fringe is pushing the boundaries of creativity with his daring brand fusion. – LA Entertainment Weekly