Born in 1973 in Malawi, Billie Zangewa lives and works in Johannesburg. Using samples of vibrant silk, the artist hand sews sprightly embroideries who take inspiration from contemporary life scenes. Often the heroin of her figurative compositions, she mixes personal experience with the universal: the bustle of urban megalopolises as well as the actions of ordinary life come alive on the fabric. Everyday life thus becomes a pretext for political reflection on identity, and questions gender stereotypes and racial prejudice.
Born in 1973 in Blantyre, Malawi
She lives and works in Johannesburg, South Africa
EDUCATION
1995 BFA Printmaking Major, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa
SOLO EXHIBITIONS (SELECTION)
2023
A Quiet Fire : Billie Zangewa, John Hansard Gallery, Southampton, England/ Tramway, Glasgow, Scotland (touring exhibition)
2022
Billie Zangewa, Harvey B. Grantt Center for African-American Arts & Culture, Charlotte, NC, USA
Flesh and Blood, Lehmann Maupin, Seoul, South Corea
2021
Billie Zangewa: Domestic Life, Musée des Beaux-Arts Le Locle, Le Locle, Switzerland
Billie Zangewa: Thread for a Web Begun, Museum of the African Diaspora, San Francisco, CA, USA
2020
Soldier of Love, Galerie Templon, Paris, France
2018
Vision of Love, Art Basel Miami Beach, Miami, FL, USA
2017
Art Paris, Afronova Gallery, Grand Palais, Paris, France
Love and Happiness, Frieze Frame, Regent’s Park, London, UK
2010
Black Line, Afronova Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
2009
101 Tokyo International Contemporary Art Fair, Afronova Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2008
Stitch by stitch, Afronova Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
Fragments, Johann Levy Gallery, Paris, France
2007
Silk Tapestries, Afronova Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
2005
Hot in the City, Gerard Sekoto Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
1997
With a series Gestures, Alliance française, Gaborone, Botswana
GROUP EXHIBITIONS (SELECTION)
2021
The Power of My Hands, Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris, Paris, France
Portals, NEON Foundation, Athens, Greece
and I will wear you in my heart of heart, FLAG Art Foundation, New York, NY
Rituals of Resilience, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN
2019
I Am . . . Contemporary Women Artists of Africa, National Museum of African Art – Smithsonian Institute, Washington, DC, USA
Mating Birds Vol.2, KZNSA – Kwa, Zulu Natal Society of Arts, Durban, South Africa
Presence, Spelman Museum, Atlanta, USA
2018
Making Africa: A Continent Of Contemporary Design, Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, TX, USA
Second Life, Musée d’Art Contemporain Africain Al Maaden – MACAAL, Marrakech, Morocco
Making Africa: A Continent Of Contemporary Design, The Albuquerque Museum, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
2017
Essential Landscape, MACAAL, Marrakesh, Morocco
Making Africa, Atlanta Museum of High Art, Atlanta, USA
Half-Life of Love, MASSMoCA, North Adams, USA
Stedelijk BASE, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Et Dieu Crèa la Femme, Maison Guerlain, Paris, France
Africa. Raccontare un mondo, CAP, Milan, Italy
Frans Masereel, Mu.Zee, Oostende, Belgium
Back to the Self, Marabouparken Konsthall, Sundbyberg, Sweden
Onder Ons, CIAP Hasselt, Belgium
2016
Africa Forecast: Fashioning Contemporary Life, Spelman Museum, Atlanta, USA
African Contemporary Art Fair, Afronova Gallery, Somerset House, London, UK – Pioneer Works, New York, USA
Essentiel Paysage, MACAAL, Marrakech, Morocco
Women’s Work, Crafting Stories, Subverting Narratives, IZIKO South Africa National Museum, Cape Town, South Africa
Essentiel Paysage, Musée d’Art Contemporain Africain Al Maaden – MACAAL, Marrakech, Morocco
Making Africa: A Continent Of Contemporary Design, Kunsthal Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands – Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelone (CCCB), Barcelona, Spain
Africa Forecast: Fashioning Contemporary Life, Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, Atlanta, GA, USA
A Constellation, Studio Museum Harlem, New York, USA
The Substance of Things Not Seen, JAG, South Africa
2015
Body Talk: Feminism, Sexuality and the Body in the Work of Six African Women Artists, WIELS, Brussels, Belgium – Lunds Konstall, Lund, Sweden – FRAC Lorraine, France
Africa: architecture, culture and identity, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebaek, Denmark
African Odysseys, Le Brass Cultural Centre, Forest, Belgium
Women’s Work, Iziko National Gallery of South Africa, Cape Town, South Africa
Making Africa, Vitra Design Museum, Weil-am-Rhein, Germany – Guggenheim, Bilbao, Spain
2014
Fiac Officielle, Magnin-A, Cité de la Mode et du Design, Paris, France
2013
My Joburg, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Dresden, Germany – La Maison Rouge, Paris, France
Hollandaise, Raw Material Company, Dakar, Senegal
2012
Hollandaise, Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
The progress of Love, The Menil Collection, Houston, Texas, USA
Africa/Africa, Abbaye St André – Centre d’art contemporain Meymac, Meymac, France
2011
Celebrating 20 artists, MDIS, Johannesburg, South Africa
En toute innocence, subtilités du corps, IF Gallery, Paris, France
Marakesh Art Fair, Palace Es Saadi, Marrakesh, Morocco
Galerie Hussenot, Paris, France
Kaddou Diggen, Galerie Le Manège, Dakar, Senegal
2010
Space, Museum Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa
Transformations, Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
2009
Anima Animal, Fondation Blachère, Apt, France
Creativity Meets Science, Spier, Stellenbosch, South Africa
2008
Re/Presentaciones: Ellas, Casa Africa, Las Palmas, Spain
Vibrant exposure, Amaridian Gallery, New York, USA
2007
Afronism, Afronova Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
Social Fabric, Goodman Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
2006
Nie Meer, De Warande Kunsthalle, Turnhout, Belgium
Dak’Art, African contemporary art Biennale, Dakar, Senegal
2005
Black Fine Art Show, Galerie Intemporel, New York, USA
2004
Brett Kebble Art Award exhibition, Cape Town Convention Centre, South Africa
Aardklop Festival, Absa top ten, Potchefstroom, South Africa
Absa l’Atelier Award exhibition, Absa Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
2003
Playtime Festival, Johannesburg, South Africa
2001
Group show, Spark Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
1999
Printwork, Rhodes University retrospective, Albany Museum, Grahamstown, South Africa
1997
Artists in Botswana, National Gallery of Botswana, Gaborone, Botswana
1996
Untitled, Gallery Anne, Gaborone, Botswana
RESIDENCIES AND AWARDS
2009
Bronx Museum. New York City, USA
2006
Air Antwerpen. Antwerp, Belgium
2005
Cite International Des Art. Paris, France
2017
Bus Expo, Art Paris in collaboration with Air France
2006
Awarded Res’artis residency with Air Antwerpen at the Dak’art Dakar Biannale
2004
Absa L’Atelier Gerard Sekoto Award
1997
Artists in Botwana Award Printmaking
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
ABSA Bank, South Africa
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
Fondation Blachère, Apt, France
Hood Museum, Dartmouth College, USA
ICA Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
J.P Morgan Chase Manhattan, USA
MACAAL, USA
Minneapolis Institute of Art, USA
Reserve Bank of Botswana, Botswana
Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), South Africa
Rhodes University Alumni, South Africa
RISD Museum Providence, Rhode Island
Sasol South Africa, South Africa
SMBA Amsterdam, Netherlands
Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, USA
Spelman Museum of Art, Atlanta Georgia, USA
Spier, Stellenbosch, South Africa
TATE, London, UK
The Norval Foundation Trust, Cape Town, South Africa
