Senzeni Marasela
Senzeni Marasela (11 February 1977) is a South African visual artist born in Thokoza who works across different media, combining performance, photography, video, prints, textiles and embroidery in mixed-medium installations. She obtained a BA in Fine Arts at the Wits School of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg in 1998. Her work is exhibited in South Africa, Europe and the United States, and part of local and international collections, including Museum of Modern Art or the Newark Museum and is referenced in numerous academic papers, theses journal and book publications. Work. Marasela's work explores the  experiences of black South African women across a range of media, including photography, video, prints, and mixed-medium installations involving textiles and embroidery. In her work, she translates memories of struggle and urbanization through the use of material culture and narratives, such as the use of the colour red which refers to cultural memories around the time of the "Red Dust" which refers to a period of drought in the early 1930s in South Africa. Her performances interweave these elements and multi-media works, making visible the dimension of the everyday through objects and clothes. She is known for her  six-year performance work "Ijermani Lam" which "materialises the condition of waiting" by wearing the same red dress every day from the 1st of October 2013 to the 1st of October 2019. The original dresses were part of the group the exhibition "Made Visible. Contemporary South African Fashion and Identity" at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston (February–May 2019). Her work taps into cultural memories using printing archival materials such as newspapers and photographs on colonial textiles. It tells stories of black women in South Africa, such as Sarah Baartman or her mother Theodorah Mpofukazi Marasela through series  such as Covering Sarah Baartman (2011), "Sarah, Senzeni and Theodorah come to Joburg" (2011), Theodorah, (2005), "Waiting for Gebane" (2017), "Izithombe Zendawo Esizithandayo" (2017) and builds an "intimate archive", giving voice to experiences of Black women. Early career. Senzeni Marasela went to St Dominic's School for Girls in Boksburg where she matriculated in 1994. Her mother's collection of doilies and Victorian lace works which were handed down in her family over generations influenced her artistic practice. During a one-day trip in 1992 to the University of the Witwatersrand she decided to enroll there. She developed her multimedia  and performative practice at the Wits School of Arts where she graduated in 1998. Career. Marasela's work is regularly shown since the Martienssen Prize Exhibition in 1997. She was taken up by the Goodman Gallery after being part of the group exhibition "Not Quite a Christmas Exhibition". She had a first solo exhibition at the Iziko South African National Gallery's "Fresh" exhibition series in 2000 which was part of a residency programme. In 2003, she started a long-term performance entitled "Theodorah comes to Johannesburg" in which is based on stories her mother told about her 11-hour  travel from Mvenyane to Johannesburg.(ref) In 2011 Marasela decided to work as a full-time artist and was part of the Johannesburg Pavilion at 56th Venice Biennale in 2015. Exhibitions. 2018 "Senzeni Marasela, Waiting for Gebane". Dolly Parton, Toffee Gallery, Darling, South Africa 2011 "Sarah, Theodora and Senzeni in Johannesburg". Art On Paper, Johannesburg, South Africa 2010 "Senzeni Marasela. Beyond Booty: Covering Sarah Baartman and other Tales". Axis Gallery, New York and New Jersey in association with submerged art, USA 2009 "Witness". Art on Paper, Johannesburg, South Africa "Oh my God you look like shit. Who let you out of  the house looking like that?", Solo performance, Sternersen Museum, Oslo, Norway "JONGA – Look at Me! A Museum of Women, Dolls and Memories". Devon Arts residency, Devon, Scotland 2005 "Theodorah and Other Women". Art on Paper, Johannesburg, South Africa 2004 "Three Women, Three Voices". Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa 2002 "Upstream Public Art Project". Amsterdam, the Netherlands 2000 "Fresh". South African National Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa Group Exhibitions 2019 "I am… Contemporary Women Artists of Africa". Smithsonian National African Museum, Washington, USA 2018 – 2019 "Soft Power." Transpalette, Bourges, France 2018 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair. AFRONOVA, Somerset House, London , UK "Ravelled Threads." Sean Kelly Gallery, New York, USA 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair. AFRONOVA, Pioneer Works, New York, USA Investec Cape Town Art Fair. Cape Town International Convention Centre, Cape Town, South Africa 2017 "Africa. Raccontare un Mondo". PAC, Milan, Italy 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair. AFRONOVA, Pioneer Works, New York, USA 2016 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair. AFRONOVA, Somerset House, London, UK KIN, HANGAR. Centro de Investigação Artística, Lisbon, Portugal 2014 "Ik Beem Afrikander". Johannesburg, South Africa "Contemporary South African Art Exhibition". Yale University, New Haven, USA "Nomad Bodies." Royal Academy of Fine Art, Antwerp, Belgium – Fried Contemporary , Pretoria, South Africa 2013 "Weather Report". University of Potchefstroom, North-West Province, South Africa "Africa curating Africa". ABSA Contemporary, Johannesburg, South Africa, (Travelling Exhibition) 2012 "Ongoing. Present Tense: Arts of Contemporary Africa." Newark Museum, New Jersey, USA "Red". 5 Pieces Gallery, Berne, Switzerland "ME1." Fried Contemporary, Pretoria, South Africa 2011 "New traditions: Louise McCagg & Senzeni Marasela". Collaboration at A.I.R. Gallery, in Association with Axis Gallery and Alma-on-Dobbin, New York, USA "Impressions from South Africa: Printed Art/1965 to Now". The Paul J. Sachs Prints and Illustrated Books Galleries, MoMA, New York, USA 2010 – 2013 "Translations into Jewellery." Everard Read  Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa – Standard Bank Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa 2009 – 2011 "DARKROOM: South African Photography and New Media 1950 – Present." Virginia Museum of Fine Art, Richmond, USA – Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama, USA 2009 "Dystopia." Unisa Art Gallery, Pretoria, South Africa – Museum Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa – Oliewenhuis Art Museum, Mangaung, Bloemfontein, South Africa – Jan Colle Galerij, Ghent, Belgium. "Beauty and Pleasure". The Stenersen Museum, Oslo, Norway "Unbounded: New Art for a New Century." Newark Museum, New Jersey, USA "Developing Democracy: A New Focus on South African Photography." Kyle Kauffman, Gallery, New York, USA 2008 Thami Mnyele and Medu Art  Ensemble Retrospective Exhibition, Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa "Black Womanwood: Icons, Images and Ideologies of the African Body." Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, USA- Davis Museum and Cultural Center, Wellesley College, Wellesley, USA – San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, USA 2007 "Jive Soweto." Hector Petersen Museum, Soweto, South Africa 2006 Ranjith Kally, Senzeni Marasela and Ruth Seopedi Motau at Goodman Gallery 2006 "Erase Me from Who I Am." Las Palmas, Canary Islands, Spain 2005 "Click". Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa 2004 "Ten Voices, Ten Years of Democracy." Public Art project of the City of Rome, Italy  Public Private. Auckland Public Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand 2003 "The Body and the Archive." Artists' Space, New York, USA 2002 "Aids in Africa." Wellesley College, Wellesley, USA 2001 "Sample E.C." Gertrude Posel Gallery, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa "Open House Exhibition." Umea Art Academy, Umea, Sweden 2000 "Margins in the Mainstream." Namibian National Gallery, Windhoek, Namibia "Translation/Seduction/Displacement: Post-Conceptual and Photographic Work." South African Artists, White Box, New York, USA "Portrait Afrika." Haus der Kulturen Der Welt, Berlin, Germany "Art Region End of Africa." Listafen Reykjavikur Kjarvalsstadir, Reyjavik, Iceland 1999 Market Photo Workshop Exhibition. Rembrandt van  Rijn Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa "Postcards from South Africa." Axis Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa "Truth Veils." Getrude Posel Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa 1998 "Family Ties." Sandton Civic Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa "Democracy's Images." Bildmusset, Umea, Sweden "Women's Voices." Mercedes Benz Museum, Stuttgart, Germany 1997 "Not Quite a Christmas Exhibition." Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa "Martienseen Prize Exhibition." Gertrude Posel Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa Biennales 2005 Beijing Biennale, South African Representative, Beijing, China