A collage-style illustration of a boat with vintage signs and cartoon characters, including a dog in a yellow life vest, a woman with a ponytail, and a bird, set against a background of blue water and sky.
A collage-style mural featuring a portrait of a person with dark hair and glasses, surrounded by illustrations of palm trees, a flower, and text in French. The background includes various colors such as pink, blue, green, yellow, and white, with some

Nathaniel Sheppard III (b. 1989, Chicago, IL, USA) is a Black South African-American visual artist and printmaker, based in Johannesburg. Sheppard’s formative years were spent in Chicago and Los Angeles, where he pursued his studies in architecture at the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-ARC). He immigrated to Johannesburg, South Africa where he enrolled at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) to study Fine Arts. It was at Wits that he found a keen interest in printmaking.

Sheppard worked at David Krut Projects, learning more advanced techniques in printmaking and shadowing printmakers such as Jillian Ross on projects for a few prominent artists where he assisted in the carving and printing of the ‘Mantegna’ woodblock print edition of the ‘Triumphs and Laments’ series by William Kentridge.

Observing and applying the collective practice ethos of printmaking in South Africa, particularly in how the medium afforded South Africans the autonomy to control the means of their production, Sheppard is a master printmaker that has produced the work of the most well-known Southern African artists. Sheppard now focuses his time and practice on creating his own art.

Sheppard co-founded Danger Gevaar Ingozi Studio in 2016 with Anaz Mia, Sbongiseni Khulu, and Chad Cordeiro whose foundation was built on the independent publishing of prints and an emphasis on the value of the labour of a printmaker concerning the value of the work they produce in line with South African history in particular, and the traditions of printmaking and craft based practices.

An artist with a beard and wearing a black beanie sitting in his studio, surrounded by paintings, art supplies, and a wooden workspace. He appears focused, with one hand on his lap and the other resting on his knee.

Nathaniel Sheppard III - Curriculum Vitae

Select Solo Exhibitions

2026 Pickpocketed Inheritance, kumalo | turpin, Johannesburg, RSA

2025 Soul Revue, Floodhouse, Johannesburg, RSA

2023 The South in Color - Kalashnikovv Gallery, Johannesburg, RSA

Select Group Exhibitions

2026 Reframing Freedom: Fifty years of democracy, Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg, RSA

2024 33.55°S – Kalashnikovv Gallery, Cape Town, RSA

2024 Refuse the given world, Kalashnikovv Gallery, Cape Town, RSA

2023 X - A Decade of Kalashnikovv Gallery - Kalashnikovv Gallery, Johannesburg, RSA

2021 Home for the Holidays as a featured artist and Head Printmaker -Danger Gevaar Ingozi Studio, Victoria Yards, Johannesburg, RSA

2021 3HD Festival, “Three Blind Mice” as State Proof, EUR

2018 The Reading Room, Goethe Institure, Johannesburd, RSA

2018 Centre for the Less Good Idea “ Season 3”, Johannesburg, RSA

2018 Lephephe Print Gathering II - Keleketla! Library, Johannesburg, RSA

2017 Lephephe Print Gathering I - Keleketla! Library, Johannesburg, RSA

2015 Carved, David Krut Projects, Johannesburg, RSA

2015 The Point of Order (University of the Witwatersrand), Johannesburg, RSA

2014 Martienssen Prize (Finalist), The Substation (University of the Witwatersrand), Johannesburg, RSA

2014 Jozi Maboneng Radio Pop Up Exhibition, MOAD

Select Fairs

Investec Cape Town Art Fair, Cape Town, RSA: 2026 / 2025 / 2024

RMB Latitudes Art Fair, Johannesburg, RSA: 2026 / 2025 / 2024 / 2023

Turbine Art Fair, Johannesburg, RSA: 2023

FNB Art Joburg, RSA: 2025 / 2026

1-54 New York, New York, US: 2026

1-54 London, UK: 2026

Awards and Collections

2025 Winner of the JSE Acquisition Prize in affiliation with Blessing Ngobeni Award

2025 Spier Arts and Culture Trust Collection