Riaan has been working in a representational style for most of his early artistic career, painting and sketching landscapes and still lifes since he was a young boy. Early in his high school years (1999) he won the junior entrepreneurial award of the year in what was then known as Pietersburg [Polokwane], South Africa, for making art and selling his art in local art shops.

In 2016 to 2019 Riaan embraced conceptual art as a modality to study his cultural context. It was this incentive together with the mentorship of Majak Bredell in her northern Drakensberg studio that brought about the Visibility body of work. The work was exhibited at Trent Art Gallery in Waterkloof in 2019 where 11 works sold, the remaining original artworks can be seen in the shop section of this website. 

Following the Jungian impulse away from rationality and its super-ego identified in the Visibility work, and towards the psychic centre through surrealistic art, Riaan seeks to to unite with the Anima Mundi – the soul of the world, and to release the creative potential of the unconscious mind, often resulting in surprising, illogical, or dreamlike imagery. This exploration represents a search for true identity, natural instinct, and spontaneous self, as revealed through myth, dream and creative play.

In service to the sister disciplines: architecture, landscape architecture, and interior design, among other art-related industries, Riaan accepts commissions for interior, architectural, and landscape architectural artwork. In 2018 Riaan completed 32 abstract works for the Rolfontein Nature Reserve Chalets with Freehand Studio, one of which is shown below.  

Art Styles Overview

For an overview of all Riaan Wilmans’s art styles, view this page by following the link below. 

Art Merit Awards

Merit Award: Sanlam junior entrepreneur of the year as a self-employed artist (1999)
Merit Award: Springs arts and music festival, A+ Diploma for painting (2000)
Merit Award: Johannesburg East Rand Arts competition, 1st place for painting (2000)
Merit Award: TUT, Certificate for best overall achievement in Communication Design (2009)
Merit Award: TUT, Certificate for best overall achievement in Drawing (2009)

Art Exhibitions

Haenertsburg Arts & Crafts Fair, Haenertsburg (1998)
Bosveld Jagters Vereniging, Pietersburg [Polokwane] (2000)
Marie Vermeulen Breedt Gallery, Brooklyn (2009)
Chris Tugwell Gallery, Brooklyn (2009)
Dimitrov Gallery, Dullstroom (2013)
Golden Goose Art Gallery, Southdowns (2015)
Solo exhibition, VISIBILITY, Trent Art Gallery, Waterkloof (2019)
Group exhibition, Respek Gallery, Waverley (2019)

Riaan has been working in a representational style for most of his early artistic career, painting and sketching landscapes and still lifes since he was a young boy. Early in his high school years (1999) he won the junior entrepreneurial award of the year in what was then known as Pietersburg [Polokwane], South Africa, for making art and selling his art in local art shops.

In 2016 to 2019 Riaan embraced conceptual art as a modality to study his cultural context. It was this incentive together with the mentorship of Majak Bredell in her northern Drakensberg studio that brought about the Visibility body of work. The work was exhibited at Trent Art Gallery in Waterkloof in 2019 where 13 works sold, the remaining original artworks can be seen in the shop section of this website.

Following the Jungian impulse away from rationality and its super-ego, identified in the Visibility work, and towards the irrational subconscious, Riaan turns to surrealist art. He seeks to release the creative potential of the unconscious mind, often resulting in surprising, illogical, or dreamlike imagery. This exploration represents a search for true identity, natural instinct, and spontaneous self, as revealed through myth, dream and creative play.

In service to the sister disciplines: architecture, landscape architecture, and interior design, among other art-related industries, Riaan accepts commissions for interior, architectural, and landscape architectural artwork.

Art Styles Overview

For a full art styles overview view this page by following the button below.