About

Guns & Rain is a Johannesburg-based gallery for contemporary African art, with a strong local and international programme of exhibitions and collaborations. Founded in 2014 as one of Africa’s first online galleries, Guns & Rain was established to address the under-representation of African art online and globally. The gallery has worked with over 80 artists from 11 African countries, and is known both for its leaning towards social and political themes and for identifying new talent. 

In addition to its local exhibition programme, the gallery participates in local and international art fairs and regularly collaborates with partner galleries and dealers to present a busy programme of exhibitions in Africa, Europe and the United States. Guns & Rain has helped launch several artists into international careers and has helped place African art in dozens of collections around the world.

The gallery has been a member of the African Art Galleries Association (AAGA) and the Association of Women Art Dealers (AWAD). We also collaborate with universities and have hosted artists and multiple interns from the University of Johannesburg and University of Oxford.

Founder and Director Julie J. Taylor has curated and produced over 100 exhibitions, fairs and collaborations in 13 countries and 17 cities. She holds 4 degrees from Cambridge, Oxford and Wits, in social anthropology, international development and art history.

The name ‘Guns & Rain’ comes from the work of South African-born British anthropologist and playwright David Lan, who wrote about guerrillas and spirit mediums in Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle. Lan’s work is concerned with culture, identity, land, struggle, change, and other important African themes that also inform the curatorial focus and programme of the gallery.