Gavin Rain

Gavin Rain is a contemporary South African artist, working primarily in acrylic, best known for his Neo-Pointillist style paintings. He uses the Pointilist technique to depict portraits of celebrities such as Beyoncé and Marilyn Monroe. “Each dot usually comprises five or so colors. When seen from a distance these colors become one and the image resolves,” he has explained of his technique. Born on March 23, 1971 in Cape Town, South Africa, Rain studied art at the University of Cape Town. Rain arrived at his hallmark style around 2004, which he developed out of an interest in Georges Seurat and 20th-century Russian avant-garde painters. In 2011, Rain participated in the 54th Venice Biennale with a painting shown in Costa Rica’s pavilion. The artist currently lives and works in Cape Town, South Africa.

The main purpose for Rain developing a new style was to force viewers to acknowledge that part of the narrative of each painting is 'hidden in plain sight', whereby it is impossible to see the subject of the painting until the viewer takes a few steps back.

In addition to exhibitions, Rain's work is available in galleries in Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, Milan and Venice. In 2009 Rain was chosen by the 2010 Fine Art Group (licensed under FIFA) to complete 12 portraits for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, taking place in South Africa, alongside artists such as Esther Mahlangu and Keith Calder.