Ayanda Mabulu
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Ayanda Mabulu (b. 1981 – Eastern Cape, RSA) is a self-taught artist whose work focuses on social upheavals and matters affecting the politics of the black body. He currently lives and works in Johannesburg.
Mabulu is best known for using hyper-realistic imagery in his paintings and sculptures to depict and juxtapose powerful leaders, masters, and mistresses with defenceless victims of greed, oppression, poverty, and systematic racism.
Tackling the issues of inequality and his experiences in South African society, especially those that set the black body as an area where violence occurs, Mabulu is an internationally recognized South African artist. The discourse of power, culture, and identity are all arranged in narrative sequences that further exaggerate the brutal history of exploitation in South Africa. The stories at play in Mabulu’s paintings are often derived from African folklore, specifically Xhosa fables.
Ayanda quotes “My aspirations for my work are simply to engage the viewer in conversations that uplift the global black community.”
Mabulu is an internationally recognized artist – whilst exhibiting in many museums and galleries around the world, Mabulu’s thought-provoking and critically acclaimed works are often covered by the New York Times, BBC, and other prominent news outlets. Mabulu’s work is featured in the permanent collection of art institutions, museums and numerous public and corporate collections.
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Selected Press:
10 Contemporary South Africa Artists You Should Know (Johannesburg In Your Pocket)
Crude Art For Crude Times (Chicago Tribune)
Troublemaker: Art is our Only Hope (Chicago Gallery News)
South African Artists Need To Be Fearless (New York Times)
The Howl of the Bull / Yakhal’inkomo: Ayanda Mabulu (Chicago Gallery News)
Art Fair Forced To Reinstate Mabulu Painting After Goldblatt Threat (Mail & Guardian)
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2019 Ubuhle Bekhiwane Ziimphethu – Kalashnikovv Gallery, Johannesburg, RSA
2018 Troublemaker: Art Is Our Only Hope – Dusable Museum, Chicago, USA
2018 Concerning Violence – Kalashnikovv Gallery, Johannesburg, RSA
2017 FREEDOM OF __EECH with Vusi Beauchamp – Kalashnikovv Gallery, Johannesburg, RSA
2016 Footprints on Commissioner Street 1886/2016 with James Delaney – Hazard Gallery,
Johannesburg, RSA
2014 State of Blackness – Commune.1 Gallery, Cape Town, RSA
2014 Cosmos of Oneness – Chengdu, CHN
2013 Imvo-Zabantsundu / The Native Opinion – Commune.1 Gallery, Cape Town, RSA
2011 Beautiful Imperfection – Chensia Gallery and Museum, CHN
2010 Un-mute My Tongue – World Art, Cape Town, RSA
Selected Group Exhibitions & Projects
2021 Winter Group Show - Kalashnikovv Gallery, Johannesburg, RSA
2021 Hello And Goodbye - Kalashnikovv Gallery, Cape Town, RSA
2020-21 'Writers of History' - theCOart, RSA
2020-21 The End is the Beginning - 132 Gallery, Johannesburg, RSA
2019 Whose heritage, culture, tradition and religion is it? - Bodutu Gallery,
The Vaal University of Technology, RSA
2019 ST-ART 2019 – Galerie Galea, Strasbourg, FRA
2019 AFREECA – Galerie Galea, Beaumettes, FRA
2018 Memento Mori – Kalashnikovv Gallery, Johannesburg, RSA
2018 A Contemporary Showcase – Graham’s Fine Art Gallery & Kalashnikovv Gallery,
Johannesburg, RSA
2017 The Tutu Sessions - Bo Yo Yo Boy! African Art Collection, Chigago , USA
2017 The Whole is Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts – Kalashnikovv Gallery, Johannesburg, RSA
2016 Scramble for Africa – Kalashnikovv Galeri, Berlin, GER
2016 Origin & Lineage – DF Gallery, Cape Town, RSA
2015 Cross-Sections – Kalashnikovv Gallery, Johannesburg, RSA
2015 The Black Cube Sessions – The Old Post Office, Johannesburg, RSA
2013 Perceptual Vigilance – AVA Gallery, Cape Town, RSA
2013 Make me an Offer: ArtReach Fundraiser Exhibition – AVA Gallery, Cape Town, RSA
2012 Our Fathers – AVA Gallery, Cape Town, RSA
2012 Greatmore Studio Showcase – Greatmore Studio, Cape Town, RSA
2012 Thupelo International Artists Workshop – Bag Factory, Johannesburg, RSA
2010 Catch 2010 – 38 Special Gallery, Cape Town, RSA
2006 Umsi / Amos Letsoalo – AVA Gallery, Cape Town, RSA
Residencies & Awards
2014 Commune.1 Gallery Residency, Commune.1 Gallery, Cape Town, RSA
2013 Greatmore Art Studios Residency, Greatmore Art Studios, Cape Town, RSA
2012 Greatmore Art Studios Residency, Greatmore Art Studios, Cape Town, RSA
2012 Soweto Arts Residency, Soweto, RSA
2011 Greatmore Art Studios Residency, Greatmore Art Studios, Cape Town, RSA
2010 Chenshia Museum Residency, Chenshia Museum, CHN
Art Fairs
1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, London, GBR: 2019
Investec Cape Town Art Fair, Cape Town, RSA: 2017 - 2020 / 2022
FNB Art Joburg Fair, Johannesburg, RSA: 2013, 2016, 2018 - 2020
RMB Turbine Art Fair, Johannesburg, RSA: 2013 / 2015 / 2016 / 2020 / 2021
AAGA x Artsy ‘African Galleries Now‘ Fair (Online): 2020 - 2021
Selected Collections
The New Church Museum
Galerie Baudoin Lebon
Collection Leridon