Senzeni Marasela

Marasela's work has been regularly shown since the Martienssen Prize Exhibition in 1997. She was accepted as an exhibiting artist by the Goodman Gallery in Johannesburg after being part of the group exhibition, Not Quite a Christmas Exhibition. She had her first solo exhibition at the Iziko South African National Gallery's Fresh exhibition series in 2000, which was part of a residency program. In 2003, she started a long-term performance entitled Theodorah comes to Johannesburg, which is based on stories her mother told about her 11-hour travel from Mvenyane to Johannesburg. In 2011, Marasela began work as a full-time artist and was part of the Johannesburg Pavilion at the 56th Venice Biennale in 2015.

Marasela's mother's collection of doilies and Victorian lace works, handed down in her family, influenced her artistic practice. Marasela's work explores the experiences of Black, South African women across a range of media. This includes photography, video, prints, and mixed-media installations that involve textiles and embroidery. In her work, she translates memories of struggle and urbanization through the use of material culture and narratives. For example, the use of the color red refers to cultural memories around the time of the "red dust," 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 every day through objects and clothes. She is known for her six-year performance work Ijermani Lam which "materializes the condition of waiting" by wearing the same red dress every day from 1 October 2013 to 1 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, Boston (February–May 2019). Her work taps into cultural memories, such as using archival materials like newspapers and photographs printed onto colonial textiles. It tells stories of black women in South Africa, such as Sarah Baartman and Marasela's 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). Marasela's artwork builds an "intimate archive", giving voice to experiences of black women.

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 2009: Oh my God you look like shit. Who let you out of the house looking like that?, solo performance, Sternersen Museum, Oslo, Norway 2009: JONGA – Look at Me! A Museum of Women, Dolls and Memories. Devon Arts residency, Devon, England 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

2019: I am… Contemporary Women Artists of Africa. Smithsonian National African Museum, Washington, USA 2018–2019: Soft Power. Transpalette, Bourges, France 2018: Ravelled Threads. Sean Kelly Gallery, New York, USA 2017: Africa. Raccontare un Mondo. Padiglione d'Arte Contemporanea, Milan, Italy 2016: KIN, HANGAR. Centro de Investigação Artística, Lisbon, Portugal 2014: Ik Beem Afrikander. Johannesburg, South Africa 2014: Contemporary South African Art Exhibition. Yale University, New Haven, USA 2014: 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 2013: Africa curating Africa. ABSA Contemporary, Johannesburg, South Africa, (Travelling Exhibition) 2012: Ongoing. Present Tense: Arts of Contemporary Africa. The Newark Museum of Art, New Jersey, USA 2012: Red. 5 Pieces Gallery, Berne, Switzerland 2012: 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 2011: Impressions from South Africa: Printed Art/1965 to Now. The Paul J. Sachs Prints and Illustrated Books Galleries, Museum of Modern Art, 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 Arts, 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. 2009: Beauty and Pleasure. Stenersen Museum, Oslo, Norway 2009: Unbounded: New Art for a New Century. Newark Museum, New Jersey, USA 2009: 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 2008: Black Womanwood: Icons, Images and Ideologies of the African Body. Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, The Davis Museum and Cultural Center, Wellesley College, and the San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego 2007: Jive Soweto. Hector Pietersen 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 2004: 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, Massachusetts, USA 2001: Sample E.C. Gertrude Posel Gallery, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa 2001: Open House Exhibition. Umea Art Academy, Umea, Sweden 2000: Margins in the Mainstream. Namibian National Gallery, Windhoek, Namibia 2000: Translation/Seduction/Displacement: Post-Conceptual and Photographic Work. South African Artists, White Box, New York, USA 2000: Portrait Afrika. Haus der Kulturen Der Welt, Berlin, Germany 2000: Art Region End of Africa. Listafen Reykjavikur Kjarvalsstadir, Reyjavik, Iceland 1999: Market Photo Workshop Exhibi