Richardt Strydom

Richardt Strydom (born 24 September 1971) is an artist, creative and educator based in Johannesburg. He was Senior Lecturer in Graphic Design at the North-West University in Potchefstroom.
Strydom has received a number of awards including an ABSA l'Atelier Merit Award (1997), a SASOL New Signatures Merit Award (1997), Overall Winner of the SASOL New Signatures Competition in 2008, and Outstanding Visual Artist Award, Stellenbosch Woordfees 2010. for an artist book, Ad Hominem, in collaboration with Jaco Burger.
Biography.
Strydom was born in Mossel Bay, studied at Vaal Technicon (now Vaal University of Technology) and the North-West University and currently lives and works in Johannesburg.
Artist overview.
When studying in the early 1990s, Strydom took inspiration from South African Resistance Art of the late 1980s. Ever since Strydom's art has explored the boundaries of cultural and art traditions and identity, as these intersect with everyday life. South African Resistance Art of the late 1980s and early 1990s has had a lasting influence on his oeuvre and art making.
As an artist, Strydom has participated in numerous national and international art as well as design exhibitions. 
Recent examples include: Design of Dissent, School of Visual Arts, New York (2005) and Payne Gallery, Pennsylvania, USA (2007); Boere Kitch (2007) Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees (curated by Gordon Froud); Oor die einders van die bladsy (2010), Stellenbosch and FADA Gallery Johannesburg, and L'origine du monde (2010) at Aardklop National Arts Festival, Potchefstroom (curated by Paul Boulitreau). Strydom's first solo exhibition A verbis ad verbera – From Words to Blows was part of the official 2010 Aardklop National Arts Festival programme. One of Strydom's works were also included in The Design of Dissent: Socially and Politically Driven Graphics.
He was co-curator (2004–2005) as well as curator (2006–2008) of the Aardklop National Arts Festival visual arts programme.
In 2010 he received his master's degree in Art History from the North-West University. His Masters' dissertation offers a postcolonial reading of the depiction of Afrikaner ancestry in the works of the 19th century explorer artist Charles Davidson Bell.
Strydom was appointed to the adjudication panel for the 2019 Helgaard Steyn Award for Painting.