Turiya Magadlela

Bio/CV: Turiya Magadlela, a South African artist born in Johannesburg in 1978, employs art-making techniques historically associated with women, utilising sewing and embroidery on a range of conceptually charged fabrics, from pantyhose to correctional service uniforms. These materials are transformed into abstract compositions through cutting, stitching, folding, and stretching, ultimately affixed to wooden frames. Magadlela's subject matter oscillates between articulations of personal experiences of womanhood and motherhood and narratives stemming from the fraught history of black South Africans. Her oeuvre engages in an ongoing dialogue regarding the colonisation of black bodies and women, a theme that is particularly resonant in her use of materials with a capitalist character, a pertinent consideration in an era where commodification is increasingly relevant.

Magadlela has garnered significant attention both nationally and internationally, including the presentation of a solo exhibition at The Armory Show in New York City in 2017, as well as participating in numerous group exhibitions such as Blue Black, curated by Glenn Ligon at the Pulitzer Arts Foundation; Simple Passion, Complex Vision: The Darryl Atwell Collection at the Gantt Centre; The Past is Present at Jack Shainmann Gallery; and Blackness in Abstraction at Pace Gallery. In recognition of her exceptional talent.Magadlela was awarded the prestigious FNB Art Prize in 2015. Her academic background includes study at the University of Johannesburg and the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam.

Magadlela's prodigious talent has not gone unnoticed, having been featured in a list of the top "10 African artists to invest in now" by the TimesLive in 2018, and shortlisted for the Jean-François Prat Prize. Her work offers a unique and compelling vision that is both aesthetically and intellectually arresting, firmly establishing her as a leading artist in the contemporary art world

Lives and works in Cape Town, South Africa

Education:

2003 - 2004
Postgraduate Research Study, Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten, Netherlands

1999 - 2001
National Diploma of Fine Arts, University of Johannesburg

1998
Certificate in Fine Arts, Funda Community College, Johannesburg

1997
Matriculated from the National School of the Arts, Johannesburg

Selected Solo or Two Person Exhibitions:

2023 When Angels Speak of Love, Triangle Art Space, NY curated by Charles Moore

2020 Mirror Mirror: LatchKey Ny, NY

2019
Mashadi WouldSay..., MSGSU Resim ve Heykel Muzesi, Santiyesi, Istanbul,Turkey

2017
The Armory Show, Solo Exhibit for the Armory Show Presents, New York City, NY Wabona lapho isifebe, wangena kuso, blank projects, Cape Town, South Africa

2015
Impilo ka Lova, Blankprojects, Cape Town, South Africa Kaffersheet, Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa Imihuzuko (for the FNB Art Prize), FNB Joburg Art Fair, Johannesburg, South Africa

2012
Everybody knows uFeela, Blank projects, Cape Town, South Africa

2003
Young Artist Award, Goethe Institute, Johannesburg, South Africa

2001- 2002
Activate Architects, Johannesburg, South Africa

2001
Generator’s Art Space, Johannesburg, South Africa

Selected Group Exhibitions:

2023 Untold Stories, Sugar Hill Museum, Harlem NY curated by Omar Lopez DARK MATTER, KATES-FERRI PROJECTS, Ny, NY The New African Portraiture: Shariat Collections Kunsthalle Krems, Austria curated by Ekow Eshun ARTNOW the Hearst Collection, Ny, NY curated by Betty Levin He Said + She Said: 1:54NY Contemporary Art Fair, Ny, NY Lean On Me: BWO Gallery, Lagos, Africa Fabric: David Blum Gallery, Ny, NY

2022 I Know you are, but what am I: UMOCA Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, Salt Lake City, UT Current Identities: Bode Projects, Berlin, Germany Ubuntu, A Lucid Dream: Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France His(HER)tory: KATES-FERRI PROJECTS, Untitled Art Fair, Miami, FL

2021
KUGARISANA a group show of artists from the Continent of Africa, Christies, Beverly Hills, CA

2020 BLACK VOICES/BLACK MICROCOSM, Everard Read, London UK
Courage is as Contagious as Fear: Norval Foundation - selected works from the Hoosein Mahomed, Cape Town, Africa

2019
New Conversations, Malibu Art Walk: Malibu, California Gossamer: Curated by Zoe Bedeaux, Carl Freedman Gallery, Margate, Kent UKFrieze Art Fair: Jenkins Johnson Gallery, Brooklyn and San Fransisco USAKing of The Hill: Jack Shainman Gallery, NYC Material Insanity: Museum of African Contemporary Art AI Maaden (MACAAL), Marrakesh, Morocco Open Agenda, Bank projects, Cape Town, South Africa UNTITLED: San Francisco, Jenkins Johnson Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2018
UNTITLED: Jenkins Johnson Gallery, Miami, FL The Same As Ever, But More So: Braunsfelder, Cologne, Germany EXPO Chicago: Jenkins Johnson Gallery, Chicago, IL
Jean François Prat Prize: Bredin Prat Foundation, Paris, France Blankprojects and Galerie Guido W. Baudach: Berlin, Germany More for less, A4 Arts Foundation: Cape Town, South Africa

2017
Blank projects: Cape Town, South Africa A Painting Today: Stevenson, Cape Town, South Africa Looking Back, Moving Forward: Constitutional Hill, Johannesburg, South Africa Blue Black: curated by Glenn Ligon, Pulitzer Arts Foundation, St Louis MO Simple Passion, Complex Vision: The Darryl Atwell Collection, Gantt Centre, Charlotte, NC The Past is Present: Jack Shainman Gallery, New York City, NY Les jour qui vient: curated by Marie - Ann Yemsi, Galerie des Galeries, Paris, France

2016
Blackness in Abstraction: Pace Gallery, New York City, NY The Quiet Violence of Dreams: Stevenson, Johannesburg, South Africa 3881 days: blank lab, Cape Town, South Africa Figure: blank projects, Cape Town, South Africa
2015 Furniture: a sculpture exhibition, blank projects, Cape Town, South Africa Back to the Future II: Abstract Art in South Africa: Past & Present, SMAC Gallery, Stellenbosch, South Africa

2014
The Poetry In Between: South South, Goodman Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa next thing you know: blank projects, Cape Town, South Africa half- devil and half- child, blank projects, Cape Town, South Africa

2013
This is the thing: blank projects, Cape Town, South Africa Weerberig/Weather report: curated by Luan Nel, Aardklop Festival, Potchefstroom, South Africa

2012
When Form Becomes Attitude: blank projects, Cape Town, South Africa

Museums & Collections: Kunsthalle Krems, Brooklyn Museum, LACMA Los Angeles Contemporary Museum of Art, Studio Museum Harlem, NY, UMOCA Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, Sugar Hill Museum, Harlem, NY, UT Black Arts and Studies, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Hearst Collection, Amir Shariat Collection, Adjmi Collection, Roux Art Collection, Princeton University Art Museum, African Art Museum, MOCAK Karokow, Poland.

Social: @turiya_magadlela