Phumelele Tshabalala

Barbati Gallery is excited to present the opening of its second exhibition with the work of South African artist Phumelele Tshabalala.

Searching for My Mama's Songs is the artist's first solo exhibition in Italy. This new body of work is created specifically for the spaces of Palazzo Lezze in Campo Santo Stefano, Venice.

Phumelele Tshabalala (b. 1987, Johannesburg, ZA) is known for creating figural works that are autobiographical and that reflect the world around him. Trained primarily as a printmaker and painter, his works include mixed-media painting and collage on canvas as well as wood panels. Employing the body as a site of expression and resistance, Tshabalala’s subject matter often considers the socio-political condition of the Black population in post-apartheid South Africa and its reverberations in a global discourse. Deeply personal narratives are woven into his paintings which blossom into universal themes of belonging and otherness.

Tshabalala lives and works in Johannesburg. His work has been included in solo exhibition in the US and London; as well as group exhibitions at Jeffrey Deitch Gallery, Los Angeles, US; Centre of the Arts Eagle Rock, Los Angeles, US; International Print Center, New York, US; Pjazza Kastilija, Valletta, MT; and Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art, New York, US. Tshabalala received an MFA in Visual Art from SUNY Purchase College, New York, US and studied Fine and Applied Arts at Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria, ZA, specializing in Printmaking and Painting.