Gratrix was born in Mexico City in 1982 and grew up in Durban, South Africa. She lives and works in Cape Town. She graduated from the Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town, in 2005, specialising in painting.

She recently presented solo exhibitions at a number of South African museums, namely The Cult of Ugliness at the Irma Stern Museum, Cape Town (2022); Georgina Gratrix: The Reunion at Norval Foundation, Cape Town (2021); and THIS MUST BE THE PLACE at the KwaZulu-Natal Society of Arts, Durban (2021). Other solo exhibitions include Colima 302, Proyectos Monclova, Mexcio (2023); Georgina Gratrix, Monica De Cardenas Gallery, Milan (2023); The Pleasure is Mine and Nine Weeks at Nicodim Gallery, Los Angeles (2020); On Repeat, SMAC Gallery, Johannesburg (2018); Puppy Love, SMAC Gallery, Cape Town (2016), and The Berlin Paintings, Die Tankstelle in association with Galerie Judin, Berlin (2013). Her first solo show at Stevenson, Between Two Palms: New Works from Durban took place in Johannesburg in 2024.

The artist presented Studio Ping-Pong, a collaborative exhibition with Cameron Platter at KZNSA in 2023. Previous group exhibitions include You to Me, Me to You, A4 Arts Foundation, Cape Town (2023); Would you still love me if I painted parrots all day?, Dirimart, Istanbul (2022); Inner Landscapes, Bloom Galerie, Geneva (2022); Fifty Sounds, Galerie Kiche, Seoul (2022); 021 – 2021 Stevenson, Amsterdam (2021); Shaping Things: An exploration of clay and ceramics in contemporary South African art practice, SMAC Gallery, Stellenbosch (2020); Punch, Jeffrey Deitch Gallery, Los Angeles (2020); The Ampersand Foundation Award: 21 years, Johannesburg Art Gallery (2019); Crossing Night, Oaxaca (2018); Thinking, Feeling, Head, Heart, New Church Museum, Cape Town (2015); Subject as Matter, New Church Museum, Cape Town (2013), and 1910-2010: From Pierneef to Gugulective, Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town (2010).

Gratrix was artist-in-residence at the Irma Stern Museum, Cape Town, as a prelude to her 2022 solo exhibition there. In 2018 she received the Discovery Prize at the 50th anniversary edition of Art Brussels and the Ampersand Fellowship Award, the latter including a residency at the Ampersand Foundation in New York. In that year, the artist also completed a residency in Oaxaca, Mexico, in association with Centro de las Artes Augustín (CASA).

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