Kelly Wainwright
Cape Town, South Africa
kellywilderwainwright@gmail.com | http://www.kellywainwright.com
Kelly Wainwright is an American contemporary artist living in Cape Town and working internationally. Her practice spans participatory photography, immersive installation, painting, movement and writing, all circling one question: how do we come alive?
She is best known for PLAY JUMP EAT (2009–), a participatory photography project with more than 100 participants, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the band Freshlyground. It was shown at Cape Town’s Infecting the City festival and featured in Elle Decor, O, The Oprah Magazine (South Africa) and Design Indaba. Her current installation projects, KINK and TOO MUCH / NOT ENOUGH, build monumental, color-saturated environments out of everyday materials, humor and ritual.
Kelly studied interior architecture at the University of Oregon and was awarded a grant fellowship to the Vermont Studio Center. Her debut collection of poetic musings, b. Wilder, is coming soon. She also leads MoFlo movement retreats and co-hosts The Way We Live podcast.
Contact: kellywilderwainwright@gmail.com
Major Projects
PLAY JUMP EAT: Bed Jump & Cape Couture, Cape Town, 2009–ongoing. Concept, art direction and production. Photographers: Inge Prins, Charley Pollard, Antonia Steyn, Saul Wainwright
Bed Jump USA, Madison/Pardeeville, WI, with Amelia John Photography, 2012
KINK, immersive installation, in development
TOO MUCH / NOT ENOUGH, five-part installation series, in development
Residencies & Fellowships
Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT, accepted with grant fellowship, 2003
Selected Exhibitions & Festivals
2026 Olympia Café & Deli, Kalk Bay, Cape Town
2025 INK BOX Gallery, Kalk Bay, Cape Town (Bottled Energy)
2025 Chardonnay, Constantia, Cape Town
2010 Infecting the City public art festival, Cape Town, selected artist
2010 Exposure Gallery, Cape Town
2010 Misael Art Space, Cape Town
2010 Olympia Café & Deli, Cape Town
2004 Lyssa Morgan Gallery, Tampa, FL, resident artists group show
2001–2005 Numerous exhibitions, San Francisco Bay Area
Public Art & Selected Projects
2025 Kiosk of Curiosity, Cape Town, curated by Mission for Inner City Cape Town (with Ezra Wainwright)
2011 Mural, Namaste Yoga Studio, Truckee, CA
2005 Conceptual design, Agricultural Institute of Marin, San Rafael, CA
2003 Large-scale paintings, Monterey Market, Berkeley, CA
2003 Mural, private residence, Cape Town
Galleries & Representation
Jasper & Jute, online gallery, Africa & Europe (current)
The Imaginarium, Cape Town, 2010
Lyssa Morgan Gallery, Florida, 2004
Sense Fine Art, Woodside, CA: invited by Rockwell to create a body of work, with a painting selected for exhibition, 2002
Books & Publications
b. Wilder, poetic musings (coming soon)
Print: Fashion, Interiors, Art by Simon Clarke, Laurence King, 2014
Grade 9 Arts & Culture textbook, Oxford University Press Southern Africa, 2010
Selected Press
Elle Decor · O, The Oprah Magazine (South Africa) · Design Indaba Magazine · British Airways Horizons · Mail & Guardian · Sunday Independent · Cape Argus · Die Burger · E-TV · OkayAfrica · iseeyousee
See the clippings →
Talks & Workshops
Pecha Kucha, San Francisco, 2012
Guest artist and movement workshop, Bridges for Music, Langa, Cape Town, 2020
Related Practice
MoFlo, movement method and retreats (founder)
The Way We Live, podcast (co-creator and host, 2026–)
Substack: essays and stories from the studio and the road
Messy Monkey Arts, experiential arts company, San Francisco Bay Area (founder, 2004–2010). Clients included Google, Eventbrite and Global Business Network.
Education
Bachelor of Interior Architecture, University of Oregon, 2000 (minors in Architecture and Art History; National Honors Society)
Danish Institute for Study Abroad, Copenhagen, 1999
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