Tara Deacon

TARA DEACON is an illustrator inspired by the overlooked moments in daily life and the colour of life under a South African sun. She grew up in Pretoria and studied product design in Johannesburg but currently lives and works in Berlin. Deacon’s work is guided by her love of vibrant colour. She favours gouache as a medium because she can achieve both solid planes of colour and transparency. Her forms are simplified in order to allow the colour planes to read off one another in the manner of Fauvist paintings. She describes her colour choices as giving ‘voice’ to one another. Living in Berlin affords Deacon a nostalgic mix of memory, place and daily life reflections in her works. Their themes are still informed by the country of her birth, her images populated by the fruits, plants, characters and light of her homeland. Deacon currently works on editorial and commercial illustration projects in London, Portugal, South Africa and Germany. Her clients include Random House Verlag, Refinery 29, Hennessy, Canal 180, Urban Books, AWW Yours ,Scoop Mag.

SELECTED PROJECTS & EXHIBITIONS

2021 – When it's hot out and you wanna have a good time, Salon Ninety One, Cape Town. 2020 – Things behind the Sun, group exhibition, Salon Ninety One, Cape Town; Hometown - Postcard exhibition, group exhibition, Brunch Shop, Johannesburg; Favorite Things, group show, O!Galeria, Porto, Portugal; A Postponed Future, group show, No End Contemporary, Johannesburg. 2019 – My City, group exhibition, O!galeria, Lisbon, Portugal. Wildflowers, end-of-year group salon in aid of Ilitha Labantu, Salon91; Regarding Winter, group exhibition, Salon91. Return, Solo exhibition, O!galeria, Lisbon, Portugal. 2018 – I am Here, Solo exhibition, Do Design, Madrid, Spain; Turbine Art Fair with Salon91; Close to Home, solo exhibition, Ahem Art Collective, Cape Town; Wallflower, group exhibition, Ground Art Cafe, Cape Town; Folklore, group exhibition, Salon91. 2017 – Oranges & Bananas, risoprint showcase, T12 Atelier, Berlin. 2016 – It’s in my Naive Nature, solo exhibition, Erd und Feuer, Berlin.