Artist Statement
My current body of work is concerned with the iconographic significance of the Black female body in contemporary culture. My work explores the emotional, physical and psychological impact of the Black female body as icon, and is primarily devoted to examining the intersectionality of race, gender and sexualty. Collective fantasies surround the Black body, and have created a cultural niche in which exists our contemporary understanding of Black femininity. My practice is dedicated to naming this phenomenon.
The fantasies and attitudes surrounding the Black female body are both accepted and rejected within my practice, and through this disorientation, new possibilities arise. I am attempting to provide alternative, and perhaps fictional explanations for the voyeuristic tendencies towards the gendered and racialized body; a body which is both exalted and abject.
I hope to correct misconceptions propagated within and projected upon the Black community in regard to Black femininity. Multiplicity and possibility are essential to my practice and general philosophy. My subjects are fully aware of their conspicuousness and are unmoved by their viewer’s gaze. Their role is not to show, explain, or perform but rather “to be.” In being, their presence is acknowledged and their significance felt. My project is committed to this exchange, for my own edification and of the edification of those who resemble me.
CV
www.tschabalalaself.com
tschabalala.tumblr.com
EDUCATION
2015 MFA in Painting/Printmaking, Yale School of Art, New Haven, CT
2012 BA in Studio Arts, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2015
Out of Body , Thierry Goldberg Gallery New York, NY Curated by Ron Segev 06/04-06/18
Head over Heels , Schur-Narula Berlin, Germany Curated by Niki Schur-Narula 05/04- 05/27
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2015
Yale MFA Painting and Printmaking Graduates 2015 , Garis & Hahn. New York, NY. Curated by David Humphrey
2,015 But Who’s Counting , Yale School of Art Green Gallery.New Haven, CT.Yale MFA Painting/Printmaking Thesis
2014
13 Artists , 24/6 Space. New Haven, CT. Curated by Awol Erizku
Swimming Pool , 24/6 Space. New Haven, CT. Curated by Tschabalala Self & Aaron Fowler
2013
For Ed: Splendor in the Grass with Olympic Lad & Lass, Yale School of Art Green Gallery. New Haven, CT.Curated by Yale School of Art
Women Love the World, Launchpad. Brooklyn, NY. Curated by Lehna Huie Encounters, Harlem School of the Arts. Harlem, NY. Curated by Ana Ruiz-Castillo
2012
SUGGARHILL, Essie Green Galleries. Harlem, NY. Curated by Dan Manso & Tschabalala Self
Edge Control, UBS Exhibition Center. Red Hook, NY. Bard College Studio Art Thesis Exhibition
NEO XL, Werehouse. Long Island City, NY. Curated by The Psrsly Koo Conglomerate
2008
Radiant Minds , Queens Museum of Art. Queens, NY. Curated by Scholastic Art & Writing Awards
2007
Admission $2.00, Whitney at Altria. New York, NY. Curated by Allison Weisberg
AWARDS
2014
Al Held Fellowship, Yale School of Art
Arttable Curatorial Fellowship; Artspace, New Haven, CT
2012
Milton and Sally Avery Scholarship: Excellence in the Undergraduate Arts, Bard College
Bertha Bennett Scholarship, Bard College
2011
Milton and Sally Avery Scholarship: Excellence in the Undergraduate Arts, Bard College
Bertha Bennett Scholarship, Bard College
2010
Eugene M. Lang Scholarship, Bard College
2009
Hearst Foundation Scholarship, Bard College
RESIDENCIES
2015
The Cabin Residency, The Cabin, Los Angeles, California (upcoming)
Fountainhead Residency, Fountainhead, Miami, Florida
2014
Al Held Fellow, American Academy in Rome, Rome, Italy
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
2015 Cox, Brandon Coley. Refracted Discourse. The International Review of African American Art (53). Vol.25 No.3. print.
2014 Barnes, Alexis. Yale University is Having its First All Black Art Show . Vice : April 17 2014. online.
2012 DIS. The Art School Issue: Competing Images . DIS Magazine. May 26 2012. online.
2007 Kern, Richard. Up & Comers: Dressed for the Part. Whitewall Magazine (62 & 64) Fall 2007. print.
SELECTED INTERVIEWS
2015
Tschabalala: Exalting Mother Earth. PROTECT & EXALT, online. July 1 2015. Interviewed by P&E
In the Work Of Tschabalala Self, Art Imitates Life As She Explores the Multidimensionality of Black Womanhood. Dynamic Africa, online. April 14 2015. Interviewed by Funke M