Tschabalala Self builds a singular style from the syncretic use of both painting and printmaking to explore ideas about the black female body. The artist constructs exaggerated depictions of female bodies using a combination of sewn, printed, and painted materials, traversing different artistic and craft traditions. The exaggerated biological characteristics of her figures reflect Self’s own experiences and cultural attitudes toward race and gender. “The fantasies and attitudes surrounding the Black female body are both accepted and rejected within my practice, and through this disorientation, new possibilities arise,” Self has said. “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.”
Forthcoming exhibitions include: Pilar Corrias Gallery, London (2017). Recent exhibitions include: Tschabalala Self, Parasol Unit Foundation for Contemporary Art, London (2016); A Constellation, Studio Museum Harlem, curated by Amanda Hunt (2016); The Function, T293, Naples (2016); Tropicana, The Cabin, Los Angeles (2015).
Born 1990 in Harlem, United States
Lives and works in New York and New Haven
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2017
Bodega Run, Pilar Corrias Gallery, London – UK
Tschabalala Self, Tramway, Glasglow – UK
Tschabalala Self, Parasol Unit Foundation for Contemporary Art, London – UK
2016
Gut Feelings, Thierry Goldberg Gallery, New York – US
The Function, T293, Naples – IT
2015
Tropicana, The Cabin, Los Angeles – US
Out of Body, Thierry Goldberg Gallery, New York – US
Head over Heels, Schur-Narula, Berlin – DE
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2017
Engendered, Kohn Gallery, Los Angeles – US
Slip, Stems Gallery, Brussels – BE
Trigger: Gender as a Tool and a Weapon, New Museum, New York – US
Face to Face: Los Angeles Collects Portraiture, The California African American Museum, Los Angeles – US
From DADA to TA-DA, Fisher Parrish Gallery, New York – US
NSFW Female Gaze, The Museum of Sex, New York – US
All These Beautiful Ladies, Lewben Art Foundation – LT
A Screen of Flesh, Coma Gallery, Sydney – AU
Body Language, Company Gallery, New York – US
Tschabalala Self, Ellannah Sadkin, Mr Kiji, Red Bull House of Art, Detroit – US
Le Nouveau Voyeurisme, Hotel Contemporary, Milan – IT
2016
Desire, Moore Building, Miami – US
Life During Wartime, Diane Rosenstein, Los Angeles – US
Protuberances, LAXART, Hollywood – US
Aiko Hachisuka, Tschalalaba Self, Caroline Wells Chandler, 11R, New York – US
Sexting, Kate Werble Gallery, New York – US
Perfect Day, Roberts & Tilton, Culver City – US
WACKing the Piñata, ltd los angeles, Los Angeles – US
A Being in The World, Salon 94 Bowery, New York – US
Look up here, I’m in heaven, BRIC, New York – US
Intimisms, James Cohan, New York – US
Mal Maison, Maccarone, New York – US
A Shape That Stands Up, Art + Practice, Los Angeles – US
Intersections, Tensquared Gallery, Online show (http://www.tensquared.gallery/)
Arachne’s Woolf, Litvak Contemporary, Tel Aviv – US
New Genealogies, Yale School of Art Green Gallery, New Haven – US
Duplify, Kate Werble Gallery, New York – US
2015
Berg Matthams Self & Weaver, Thierry Goldberg Gallery, New York – US
A Constellation, Studio Museum Harlem, curated by Amanda Hunt – US
The New New, Diane Rosenstein Gallery, Los Angeles – US
THATS ON ME, Paris Blues, curated by Lauren Halsey, New York – US
Yale MFA Painting and Printmaking Graduates 2015, Garis & Hahn, curated by David Humphrey, New York – US
2,015 But Who’s Counting, Yale School of Art Green Gallery, New Haven – US
2014
13 Artists, 24/6 Gallery, New Haven – US
Swimming Pool, 24/6 Gallery, New Haven – US
2013
For Ed: Splendor in the Grass with Olympic Lad & Lass, Yale School of Art Green Gallery, New Haven – US
Women Love the World, Launchpad, Brooklyn, NY – US
Encounters, Harlem School of the Arts, Harlem, NY – US
2012
SUGGARHILL, Essie Green Galleries, Harlem, NY – US
Edge Control, UBS Exhibition Center, Red Hook, NY – US
NEO XL, Werehouse, Long Island City, NY – US
2008
Radiant Minds, Queens Museum of Art, Queens, NY – US
2007
Admission $2.00, Whitney at Altria, New York, NY – US
LECTURES & PANELS
2017
NSFW Female Gaze: Representing Sex and Sexual Self, Marina Garcia-Vasquez & Lissa Rivera, Artists: Taira Rice, Pixy Liao, Tschabalala Self, Vice HQ, Brooklyn, NY, July 18th 2017
The Artist Eye: Tschabalala Self. Tschabalala Self responds to artists in the exhibition We Wanted a Revolution: Black Radical Women, 1965-85, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY, July 8th 2017
Dis/assembly: The body in abstraction: Nicola Vassell in conversation with Tschabalala Self, Marcia Kure, and Derrick Adams, Forum at 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair, New York, NY, May 7th 2017
Identity and Empowerment with artists Kalup Linzy, Tschabalala Self and John Edmonds, led by editor Alyse Archer-Coité, Spring Place, New York, NY, February 15th 2017
Tschabalala Self in Conversation with Yinka Shonibare MBE and Touria El Glaoui, moderated by Dr. Ziba Ardalan, January 17th 2017
2016
Tschabalala Self & Antwaun Sargent in Conversation #blackjoyatyale, Yale School of Art, New Haven, CT, November 11th 2016.
Tschabalala Self in Conversation with Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, New York University, New York, NY, November 7th 2016
Artist Lecture: Tschabalala Self, The New York Academy of Art. New York, NY, November 2nd 2016
The Collagraph, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York, October 11th 2016
Artist in Conversation: Tschabalala Self, Caroline Wells Chandler and Gaby Collins-Fernandez, 11R, New York, NY, September 25th 2016
“Look up Here, I’m in heaven” Discussion Panel, BRIC, Brooklyn, NY, July 20th 2016
Senior Seminar, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, April 12th 2016
2015
Legal Medium: Peggy Cooper Cafritz, Yale Law School, New Haven, CT, April 3rd 2015
2014
New Rome, Yale School of Art, New Haven, CT, October 12th 2014
2013
Difference and Media Project, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, October 3rd 2013
EDUCATION
2015
MFA in Painting/Printmaking, Yale School of Art, New Haven – US
2012
BA in Studio Arts, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY – US
AWARDS, GRANTS & RESIDENCIES
2018
The Studio Museum AIR Program, The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York – US
2017
Joan Mitchell Foundation Award
Liquitex Work Residency, London – UK
Red Bull House of Art Residency, Detroit – US
Parasol Unit Work Residency, London – UK
2016
T293 Residency, Naples – IT
2015
The La Brea Studio Residency, Los Angeles – US
Fountainhead Residency, Fountainhead, Miami – US
Arttable Curatorial Fellowship; Artspace, New Haven – US
2014
Al Held Fellow, American Academy in Rome, Rome – IT
PUBLICATIONS
2017
Johanna Burton, Gender as a Tool and a Weapon, New Museum, New York
Ziba Ardalan, Tschabalala Self, Parasol Unit, London
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
2017
Peter Schjeldahl, The Art World as Safe Space, The New Yorker, October 9th 2017
Alex Hetherington, Tschabalala Self, thisistomorrow, June 21st 2017
The Guide, The 10 Best Things to do this Week, The Guardian, June 2nd 2017
Laura Cumming, Lubaina Himid: Invisible Strategies; Tschabalala Self review – history and mystery, The Guardian, January 22nd 2017
Forbes Editorial, 30 under 30 – Art & Style, Forbes January 3rd 2016
2016
Sarah Cascone, 14 Emerging Women Artist to Watch in 2017, Artnet December 21st 2016
Howard Halle, Six young African-American artists to watch in 2017, TimeOut New York, December 16th 2016
Lindsay People, 3 Woman Changing the Art Game, The Cut, December 14th 2016
Artsy Editorial, The Top Emerging Artists of 2016, Artsy December 14th 2016
Anna Furman, Youth Collective Teaches You How to Scam the Patriarchy, The Creator’s Project, December 10th 2016
Elephant Magazine Editorial, Tschabalala Self, Elephant Magazine (46), Winter 2016
Michael Reynolds & Francois Dischinger , The New Guard: 30 Under 35, CULTURED (262), Winter 2016
Stephanie Eckardt, The Empowerment You Need This Week, Courtesy of Tschabalala Self, W Magazine November 14th
Howard Halle, The top five New York art shows this week, Timeout, November 8th 2016
Julia Wolkoff, Exhibitions The Lookout, Art in America, November 4th 2016
Jerry Saltz, The Culture Pages : To Do, New York Magazine (118), October 31st – November 13th 2016
Roberta Smith, What to See in New York Art Galleries This Week, The New York Times (C20), October 28th 2016
Anthony Hawley, Reviews: New York “Mal Maison”, Modern Painters (81), October/November 2016
The Black Female Experience, in GIFS, The Creators Project, VICE, August 19 2016, Interviewed by Antwaun Sargent
Karen Rosenberg, What to See in New York Art Galleries This Week, The New York Times (C20), August 13th 2016
Lia McGarrigle, 4 Black Artist You Need to Know, i-D, August 12th 2016
E.D. Noice, ‘WACKing the Piñata’ @ Ltd Los Angeles Reviewed, AQNB, August 9th 2016
Daniel Gerwin, Letting Go of the Distinction Between Figuration and Abstraction, Hyperallergic, June 14 2016
Casey Lesser, These 20 Female Artists Are Pushing Figurative Painting Forward, Artsy, June 10 2016
Molly Gottschal, The 12 Young Painters You Need to Know at NADA New York, Artsy, May 6th 2016
Tschabalala Self, Tschabalala Self on Faith Ringgold, Studio, The Studio Museum in Harlem Magazine, Winter/Spring 2016
Bridget Gleeson, In Tel Aviv, Female Artist Follow Arachne and Weave a New Type of Femininity, Artsy, March 16th 2016
A Space to Dance: An Interview with Tschabalala Self, Pelican Bomb, March 14 2016. Interviewed by Ashton Cooper
Wendy Vogel, Review: Who run the world? On “Intersections” an exhibition organized by Girls of the Internet Museum and Tensquared, Rhizome, March 9th 2016
Amanda Coulson, Amanda Coulson on Volta NY’s 2016 Highlights, Whitewall Magazine, March 3rd 2016
Kat Herriman, Volta Answers Armony Week’s Need for New Voices, BLOUINARTINFO, March 3rd 2016
Meredith Mendelsohn and Tess Thackara, In Black Artists’ Pursuit of Equality, These 17 Art-World Leaders Are Changing the Game, Artsy, January 12th 2016
Martha Schwendener, At the Studio Museum in Harlem, 4 Shows Engage a Cultural Conversation, The New York Times, January 7th 2016
2015
Priscilla Frank, 17 Visual Artist You Should Know in 2016, Huffington Post: December 22nd 2015
Arsty Editorial, 16 Emerging Artists to Watch in 2016, Artsy, December 16th 2015
Maxwell Williams, Fresh Faces: A Group Show at Diane Rosenstein Highlights Six Emerging Artist, Artsy, November 24th 2015
Horowitz Mikhail, Teaching Art Elegantly, Bardian (19), Bard College Fall 2015
Tschabalala: Exalting Mother Earth. PROTECT & EXALT, 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, April 14 2015
Interviewed by Funke M. Cox, Brandon Coley, Refracted Discourse, The International Review of African American Art (53). Vol.25 No.3.
2014
Alexis Barnes, Yale University is Having its First All Black Art Show, Vice, April 17 2014
2012
DIS, The Art School Issue: Competing Images. DIS Magazine. May 26 2012. BARD PAPERS. Tschabalala Self: Shade 1 & 2 ( 2021), 2012
2007
Richard Kern, Up & Comers: Dressed for the Part, Whitewall Magazine (62 & 64) Fall 2007
TSCHABALALA SELF AT TRAMWAY, GLASGOW
Tramway presents a solo exhibition by American artist Tschabalala Self which draws together works from the first five years of her artistic career. Primarily concerned with the concept of the black female body within contemporary culture, Self examines the confluence … More
Tschabalala Self wins Joan Mitchell Award
Tschabalala Self has won Joan Mitchell Painters and Sculptors Grant. Established in 1993, the Painters and Sculptors Grant Programme acknowledges painters and sculptors creating work of exceptional quality through unrestricted career support. The Foundation currently awards $25,000 to twenty-five artists … More
Tschabalala Self at Parasol Unit, London
Tschabalala Self is having a solo exhibition at Parasol Unit Foundation for Contemporary Art in London. Curated by Ziba Ardalan, this first solo exhibition of Tschabalala Self in the United Kingdom brings together works drawn from the first five years … More
Pilar Corrias at Art Basel Miami Beach 2016
We are excited to announce Pilar Corrias Gallery will be participating in Art Basel | Miami Beach 2016. The gallery will present works by artists: Ulla von Brandenburg Gerasimos Floratos Tala Madani Ken Okiishi Philippe Parreno Mary Ramsden Tschabalala Self Shahzia … More
Peter Schjeldahl, The Art World as Safe Space, The New Yorker, October 2017 (Download PDF)
Alex Hetherington, Tschabalala Self (Tramway Review), thisistomorrow, June 2017 (Download PDF)
The Guide, The 10 Best Things to do this Week (including Tschabalala Self at Tramway, Glasgow), The Guardian, June 2017 (Download PDF)
Jason Parham, The Hypervisible of Tschabalala Self’s World, Fader, interview, April 2017 (Download PDF)
Emily Steer, 5 Questions with Tschabalala Self, Elephant Magazine, February 2017 (Download PDF)
Laura Cumming, Lubaina Himid: Invisible Strategies; Tschabalala Self review – history and mystery, The Guardian, January 2017 (Download PDF)
Ashton Cooper, A Space to Dance: An Interview with Tschabalala Self, Pelican Bomb, September 2016 (Download PDF)
Priscilla Frank and Katherine Brooks, 17 Visual Artists You Should Know In 2016, Huffpost Arts and Culture, February 2016 (Download PDF)
Martha Schwendener, At the Studio Museum in Harlem, 4 Shows Engage a Cultural Conversation, The New York Times, August 2016 (Download PDF)
Tschabalala Self: Bodega Run
Pilar Corrias Gallery is pleased to present Tschabalala Self’s inaugural solo exhibition, Bodega Run, which focuses on the socio-political site of the New York City bodega. Tschabalala Self, who identifies primarily as a painter while also working across various media, … More