Lemkus Gallery (28 St George’s Street, Cape Town) was established in 2024 by Richard Lemkus and Jared Leite, with the intent to house and facilitate the Residency28 programme: which offers funding, studio space, and exhibition opportunities to upcoming local artists. In its initial stages, the purpose of the programme was to assist the cultivation of sustainable artistic practices by providing artists with the necessary resources and support to further their respective careers. Since then, the gallery has grown in its capacity to exhibit beyond its residency model, and now features independent solo and group presentations. 

In the coming year Lemkus will retain its residency model, soon to be entirely self-funded, while also transitioning to a more commercial approach to exhibition making. Despite this shift, the gallery will uphold its reputation as a space for serious projects that boasts politically and historically aware curatorial sensibilities, a broad range of contemporary artistic mediums, and intellectual rigour in all its offerings. Since its inception, fostering community engagement has been an integral part of Lemkus’ ethos, and has grown to be an important element in the fine arts ecosystem in Cape Town. 

Lemkus continues in its aim of fostering the new generation of artists, curators, and writers. It acts as a laboratory for new ideas, ways of making, and forms of articulation, and takes responsibility for documenting and disseminating the various registers of artistic work it produces and exhibits. The Gallery is therefore not a competitor to long-established institutions, but a resource and an open network for exchange and collaboration.

4th Floor, Exchange Building
28 St Georges Mall, Cape Town City Centre, Cape Town, 8000
Viewing times: Monday - Friday | 10:00 - 16:00
Other times by Appointment
gallery@lemkus.com

Jared Leite (Director)

Jared Leite is writer, curator, and gallerist with an interest in developing infrastructure in the visual arts ecosystem. He is the co-founder and director of Lemkus Gallery, an alternative gallery model centred on artist residencies and collaborative projects with emerging artists. He holds a Master of Art in Fine Art (MAFA) from the University of Cape Town. He has a background as a researcher and lecturer at the institution, having worked in the Fine Arts department for several years. As a researcher and aspiring academic, Jared’s primary focus has been on the historical contributions of artists-of-colour, particularly those that have been excluded from or undertheorized within the global arts canon. His curatorial practice has borne numerous successful exhibitions, art fair presentations, and community-led events. As a curator, he is particularly attentive to critical artistic interventions by early-career artists and plays the role of extending studio practices through research, writing, and strategic display. He has authored several curatorial statements, catalogue essays, and press releases. His curatorial projects have been featured in several notable publications, such as ArtThrob, Latitudes, ArtForum, and Daily Maverick.

for contact - gallery@lemkus.com