Sethembile Msezane

Last updated

The artist Sethembile Msezane Sethembile Msezane- Portrait.jpg
The artist Sethembile Msezane

Sethembile Msezane (born 1991 in KwaZulu-Natal) is a South African visual artist, public speaker and performer who is known for her work within fine arts. Msezane uses her interdisciplinary practice which combines photography, film, sculpture, and drawing to explore issues focused on spirituality, politics and African knowledge systems. Part of her works focus has been on the process of myth-making and its influence on constructing history as well the absence of the black female body in both narrative and physical spaces of historical commemoration. Msezanes work is held in galleries in South Africa as well as internationally and has won awards and nominations. [1] Msezane is a member of the iQhiya Collective, a network of black women artists originating from Cape Town, Johannesburg and across South Africa.

Contents

Sethembile Msezane, Signal Her Return III, 2019. In collaboration with Tyburn Gallery. Photo by Tom Morley, courtesy New Art Exchange Sethembile Msezane, Signal Her Return III, 2019. In collaboration with Tyburn Gallery. Photo by Tom Morley, courtesy New Art Exchange.jpg
Sethembile Msezane, Signal Her Return III, 2019. In collaboration with Tyburn Gallery. Photo by Tom Morley, courtesy New Art Exchange

Education & Career

Although born in Kawazulu-Natal, Msezane was raised in Johannesburg. She later moved to Cape Town, where she attended the Michaelis School of Fine Art to study for a BA in Fine Arts in 2012 and then her Masters of Fine Arts in 2017. [1] [2] Msezanes performances centre on the absence of black women in political and historical landscapes in South Africa. Through her performances she explores the ways in which women are restricted by society in their movement, clothing and figures by using her own body as a human sculpture, dressed in symoblic costume to affirm her importance, existence and role in public spaces. [3]

Msezanes work has been widely recognised globally and features in galleries across South Africa including the Iziko South African National Gallery, Zeitz Mocca and the University of South Africa. [1] In 2016 Msezane was the first person to receive the Rising Light Award during the Mboko awards ceremony for her work. She additionally received a TAF and SYLT Emerging Artist Residency (TASA) award the same year and was a Barclays L'atelier top ten finalist. Msezane was also nominated for an ANTI Festival International Prize for Live Art in 2017. [4]

Her work, "Chapungu-the Day Rhodes Fell" (2015) was performed during protests of The Rhodes Must Fall Movement, whilst the John Cecil Rhode Statue at the University of Cape Town was being removed. Msezane stood as a human statue during the event for hours in a performance to reclaim the space. Msezane has used various other South African Public Holidays to perform and address issues that effect youth of today, as part of her "Public Holiday series 2014-2015" [3] Some of Msezane's other performances include "Kwasuka Zukela" (2017) Gallery MoMo, Cape Town, South Africa, "All Thing being Equal" Zeitz Mocca (2017)Cape Town, South Africa and "Unframed"(2018) at the Cape Town Art Fair. Msezane exhibited her first UK solo performance "Speaking through the wall" at the Tyburn Gallery, London (2019), as well as showcasing her newest performance "Signal her return III" at the New Art Exchange in Nottingham, UK. [1]

Msezane has alo performed in group shows some of which include "Women's Work and the art of Disruptions"(2016) at the Iziko South African National Gallery, "Re[as]sisting narratives(2016) at the Framer Frame in Amsterdam, "Dancing on a Volcano"(2018) at the Lagos Photo festival Nigeria, "Translations" at Emergence Art Space and Reed College (2015) Portland, Oregon, "Made Visible: Contemporary South African Fashion and Identity" (2019) at the Museum of Fine Art, Boston, USA. [5] [1]

Msezane appeared on TedGobal as a public speaker in 2017. [5]

Exhibitions

"Speaking Through the Wall" (2019) Tyburn Gallery. London, UK [1]

"Kwasuka Sukela" (2017) Gallery Momo. Cape Town, South Africa [1]

"All Things Being Equal" (2017) Zeitz Mocca. Cape Town, South Africa [1]

"Unframed" (2018) Cape Town Art Fair. Cape Town, South Africa.

"Umoya: a Quiet revolution" FNB Joburg Art Fair. Johannesburg, South Africa [1]

"Re(as)sisting Narratives" (2016) Framer Framed, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Awards

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tracey Rose</span> South African artist (born 1974)

Tracey Rose is a South African artist who lives and works in Johannesburg. Rose is best known for her performances, video installations, and photographs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nandipha Mntambo</span> South African artist (born 1982)

Nandipha Mntambo is a South African artist who has become famous for her sculptures, videos and photographs that focus on human female body and identity by using natural, organic materials. Her art style has been self described as eclectic and androgynous. She is best known for her cowhide sculptures that connects the human form to nature.

Athi-Patra Ruga is a South African artist who uses performance, photography, video, textiles, and printmaking to explore notions of utopia and dystopia, material and memory. His work explores the body in relation to sensuality, culture, and ideology, often creating cultural hybrids. Themes such as sexuality,Xhosa culture, and the place of queerness within post-apartheid South Africa also permeate his work.

Doreen Southwood is a South African artist, designer, and boutique owner based in Cape Town. She works in a wide variety of media in her artwork, producing sculptures, objects, prints, film, and more, which she often bases on personal experiences and self exploration. Her candidness regarding personal flaws and the cycles of repression and coping that accompany conservative, middle class, Afrikaans upbringing inform much of her work, calling attention to ways in which women are silenced or otherwise repressed in that space.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sue Williamson</span> South African artist (born 1941)

Sue Williamson is an artist and writer based in Cape Town, South Africa.

Mary Sibande is a South African artist based in Johannesburg. Her art consists of sculptures, paintings, photography, and design. Sibande uses these mediums and techniques to help depict the human form and explore the construction of identity in a postcolonial South African context. In addition, Sibande focuses on using her work to show her personal experiences through Apartheid. Her art also attempts to critique stereotypical depictions of women, particularly black women.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Penny Siopis</span> South African artist from Cape Town (born 1953)

Penny Siopis is a South African artist from Cape Town. She was born in Vryburg in the North West province from Greek parents who had moved after inheriting a bakery from Siopis maternal grandfather. Siopis studied Fine Arts at Rhodes University in Makhanda, completing her master's degree in 1976, after which she pursued postgraduate studies at Portsmouth Polytechnic in the United Kingdom. She taught Fine Arts at the Technikon Natal in Durban from 1980 to 1983. In 1984 she took up a lectureship at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. During this time she was also visiting research fellow at the University of Leeds (1992–93) and visiting professor in fine arts at Umeå University in Sweden (2000) as part of an interinstitutional exchange. With an honorary doctorate from Rhodes University, Makhanda – Siopis is currently honorary professor at Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town.

iQhiya is a network of young black women artists based in Cape Town and Johannesburg, South Africa. They specialise in a broad range of artistic disciplines including performance art, video, photography, sculpture and other mediums.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zelda Nolte</span> South African British sculptor and woodblock printmaker

Zelda Nolte (1929–2003) was a South African- British sculptor and woodblock printmaker.

Lady Skollie is a South African feminist artist and activist from Cape Town, currently living in Johannesburg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa</span> Art museum, design/textile museum, historic site in Cape Town, South Africa

Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa is a public non-profit museum in Cape Town, South Africa. Zeitz MOCAA opened on September 22, 2017 as the largest museum of contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora. The museum is located in the Silo District at the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront in Cape Town. A retail and hospitality property, the Waterfront receives around 24 million local and international visitors per year.

Kagiso Patrick "Pat" Mautloa is a multi-media visual artist based in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Lungiswa Gqunta is a South African sculptor and visual artist. Her work has been shown in several galleries and exhibitions including Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, Johannesburg Art Gallery, Kunsthal Zurich and Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, University of Cape Town.

Bongiwe or Bongi Dhlomo-Mautloa, is a Zulu South African printmaker, arts administrator and activist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gabi Ngcobo</span> South African curator, artist and educator

Gabi Ngcobo is a South African curator, artist and educator. Currently she is the Curatorial Director at the Javett Art Centre at the University of Pretoria (Javett-UP).

Robert A. Hamblin is a South African-born visual artist, working mainly in photography and paint on paper. The work deals with tensions on the gender and sexuality spectrums of the contemporary human condition. InterseXion, a multidisciplinary exhibition and seven year collaboration with the Sistaaz Hood, a group of South African transgender sex workers, was staged at Iziko South African National Gallery in 2017. His autobiography was published in June 2021.

Kudzanai-Violet Hwami is a Zimbabwean painter who lives and works in London, England. Her work explores sexuality, race, and gender.

Banele Khoza is visual artist was born in Hlatikulu, Swaziland. He has been living and working from South Africa since 2012, where his relatively young art career has been receiving wide acclaim.

Gerald Machona is a Zimbabwean contemporary visual artist. The most recognizable aspect of his work is his use of decommissioned Zimbabwean dollars. Machona works in sculpture, performance, new media, photography and film. In Machona's work, he explores issues of migration, transnationality, social interaction and xenophobia in South Africa.

Thania Petersen is a multi-disciplinary artist. Her work is in the collections of notable museums and galleries including the Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art and the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Sethembile Msezane". tyburngallery.com. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  2. "Sethembile Msezane - Zeitz MOCAA". Zeitz MOCAA. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
  3. 1 2 "5 young artists who have us excited about politics | Live Mag". Live Mag. 2 October 2015. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
  4. 1 2 "Sethembile Msezane". OKAYAFRICA's 100 WOMEN. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
  5. 1 2 Msezane, Sethembile. "Sethembile Msezane | Speaker | TED". www.ted.com. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
  6. Msezane, Sethembile. "Sethembile Msezane | Speaker | TED" . Retrieved 20 October 2018.