Andre Stead South African, b. 1975

André Stead (b. 1975, Evander, South Africa lives and works in Cape Town, South Africa) is a South African sculptor whose practice is grounded in a sustained inquiry into the human condition, exploring perception, connection, and ethical responsibility through material form. Working across bronze, stainless steel, wood, and mixed media, his sculptures engage the emotional and moral dimensions of human experience, approaching form as a site of introspection rather than spectacle.

Stead received his early training at the Pro Arte School of Arts in Pretoria, where he studied painting and graphics, before relocating to Cape Town to pursue sculpture and metalworking. He trained extensively in bronze casting and foundry practice, working at the Doyle Art Foundry and later becoming a partner at the Bronze Age Art Foundry between 2004 and 2007. During this period, he played a central role in the production of major sculptural projects and exhibitions, collaborating with artists including Maureen Quin, Dylan Lewis, and William Kentridge, and developing a comprehensive understanding of sculptural processes from conception to installation.

Since the mid-2000s, Stead has developed a series of conceptually driven bodies of work that investigate human perception, embodiment, and social interconnectedness. These include the Female series (2008–10), Anamorphic (launched with the solo exhibition Evolution, 2011), Illumination (2012), Elemental Man (2012–13), The Emergence of Man (2014), and Sublimation (2016), the latter examining contemporary life in an increasingly networked digital world. His work has been presented in numerous solo and group exhibitions across South Africa and internationally.

Stead has also completed major public and corporate commissions, notably the creation of nine large bronze relief panels for the Burj Khalifa development in Dubai (2007), and sculptural installations for Delaire Graff Wine Estate, including Flight of the Swallows (2011) and subsequent commissions. His work is held in significant public, corporate, and private collections, including the Rand Merchant Bank Collection, the Sanlam Collection, the Iscor Collection, the National Heritage Project Company, Graham Beck Estates, and the Laurence Graff Collection. Through a technically rigorous and philosophically engaged practice, Stead continues to articulate sculpture as a space for ethical reflection and human connection.