Mary Sibande opens art exhibition in Durban

Image supplied: Mary Sibande's I put a spell on me

Curated by Gcotyelwa Mashiqa, Sibande’s phenomenal and memorable large-scale installations personify the colours of bruising – blue, purple and more recently red, as demonstrated through her alter-ego, Sophie, a life-size, personalised mannequin channelling Sibande and made in her likeness.

Through her garments, attitude and environment, Sophie allows us a glimpse of life as a contemporary Black South African woman as she navigates the barrage of daily challenges.

Absa opens new art gallery

27 May 2022

We first met the flamboyant yet resolute Sophie wearing the blue and white of a maid’s uniform, then she moved to a regal purple, signifying her political awakening, and most recently is predominantly scarlet - demonstrating the impotent rage felt by many South Africans at democracy’s failure to improve the appalling living conditions of the majority of its citizens, and of the ongoing poverty and festering social, economic and racial divisions.

Image supplied: Mary Sibande's They Don't Make Them Like They Used To

Born in 1982 in Barberton, South Africa, Sibande graduated in 2007 from the University of Johannesburg, where she lives and works. In 2013 she won the Standard Bank Young Artist Award, part of the prize for which was a touring exhibition across South Africa. Sibande's work has been exhibited in the South African pavilion of the Venice Biennale (2010); the Iziko South African National Gallery in Cape Town (2010); the Museum of Contemporary Art, Rio de Janeiro (2011); the Lyon Biennale (2013); The British Museum (2016); and The MET Breuer, Metropolitan Museum of Art (2018).

Let Me Tell You About Red will open on 3 June. The Durban Art Gallery is located on the second floor of City Hall, Anton Lembede Street, Central Durban. It is open from 9am to 3.30pm during the week, and 9am to 12pm on Saturdays.