Curated Group
Mary Sibande — Artist Biographical Backgrounds
Curated by UMMA Curators
Group Details:
Mary Sibande is a visual artist from South Africa who uses her artwork to look at the stereotypes and intersections of race, gender, and labor in the wake of Apartheid.
BIOGRAPHY:
- Born in 1982 in Barberton, South Africa
- Earned Diploma of Fine Arts in 2004 at the Witwatersrand Technikon and Honours Degree in 2007 from the University of Johannesburg
- Represented South Africa in 2011 at the Venice Biennale
- Won the 2017 Smithsonian National Museum of African Arts Award
- Currently lives and works in Johannesburg
- Aims to rewrite her family’s legacy of forced domestic labor as a result of Apartheid
- Uses an alter ego, “Sophie,” to create a fantasy counter-history of her family’s life
- Uses blue, purple, and red as symbols for different facets of her characters; red for anger, blue for servitude, and purple for power, wealth, and protest
“If our mothers questioned things, they were thrown in jail, but suddenly we were able to question things, park of what I’m doing is celebrating questioning.”
Watch Artist Interview Here
