Tschabalala Self (b. 1990 Harlem, New York) lives and works in the Hudson Valley, New York. Self is an artist who builds a singular style from the syncretic use of painting, printmaking and sculpture to explore ideas surrounding figuration. She constructs depictions of predominantly women using a combination of sewn, printed, and painted materials, traversing different artistic and craft traditions. The formal and conceptual aspects of Self’s work seek to expand her critical inquiry into selfhood and human flourishing.
Recent solo exhibitions and performances include Longlati Foundation, Shanghai (2025); Espoo Museum of Modern Art, Finland (2024); Kunstmuseum, St. Gallen (2023); Le Consortium, Dijon (2022); Performa 2021 Biennial, New York City (2021); Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore (2021); ICA, Boston (2020); Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2019); Art Omi, Ghent (2019); Frye Art Museum, Seattle (2019) and Yuz Museum, Shanghai (2018).
Self's work is included in collections such as Albertina Museum, Vienna, Austria; The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, USA; Astrup Fearnley, Oslo, Norway; Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, USA; Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, USA; Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, USA; Consortium Museum, Dijon, France; Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, USA; Detroit Institute of the Arts, Detroit, USA; Frye Art Museum, Seattle, USA; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, USA; The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington DC, USA; ICA Boston, Boston, USA; Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, USA; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, USA; Luma Foundation, Zurich, Switzerland; Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris, Paris, France; Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA; Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, San Diego, USA; New Museum, New York, USA; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, USA; Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, Germany; Qatar Museums, Doha, Qatar; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, USA; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA; Stedelijk Museum Collection, Amsterdam, Netherlands; Studio Museum Harlem, New York, USA; and Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, USA.
“The films that run through my mind while I'm painting are not linear...they are a disparate collection of associations, memories and experiences that are synthesized into a singular work of art.”
—Tschabalala Self in conversation with Heinz-Norbert Jocks “Tschabalala Self: Der Schwarze Feminismus,” Kunstforum International (2025)
Installation view, Tschabalala Self, Bodega Run, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, 2019
1990 Born in Harlem, New York
2012 BA in Studio Arts, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York
2015 MFA in Painting/Printmaking, Yale School of Art, New Haven
First solo exhibitions in New York and Los Angeles
Participates in group exhibition at The Studio Museum Harlem
2017 Solo exhibition at Parasol unit foundation for contemporary art, London
Debut solo exhibition Bodega Run at Pilar Corrias
Participates in group exhibitions at New Museum, New York
2018 Solo exhibition Bodega Run at Yuz Museum, Shanghai
Participates in group exhibitions at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville
Installation view, Tschabalala Self, Make Room, Le Consortium, Dijon, 2022
2019 Solo exhibition Bodega Run at Hammer Museum, Los Angeles
Participates in group exhibitions at MoMA PS1, New York and Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, among other institutions
2020 Solo presentation Out of Body at ICA Boston
Debut solo exhibition Cotton Mouth at Galerie Eva Presenhuber, New York
Participates in group exhibitions at Kunstverein Hannover and White Chapel Gallery, London
2021 Creates performance Sounding Board for Performa, New York
Solo exhibition By My Self at Baltimore Museum of Art
Participates in group exhibitions at The Brooklyn Museum and Kunsthalle Düsseldorf
2022 Solo exhibition Make Room at Le Consortium, Dijon
Participates in group exhibitions at Aïshti Foundation and Zeits MOCAA
Installation view, Tschabalala Self, Around the Way, EMMA - ESPOO Museum of Modern Art, 2024
2023 Solo exhibition Inside Out at Kunstmuseum St. Gallen
Participates in group exhibitions at the Frist Art Museum, Nashville; Frye Art Museum, Seattle; St. Louis Art Museum; and Kunstmuseum Bonn
2024 Creates installation at The Highline, New York
Solo exhibitions at Swiss Institute, New York and EMMA - ESPOO Museum of Modern Art
First group exhibition in Petzel, New York
Group exhibitions at Dallas Museum of Art; Le Consortium, Dijon; and Brooklyn Museum
2025 Joins Petzel, New York
Forthcoming solo exhibition at Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne
Solo exhibition The Illusion of the Self at Longlati Foundation, Shanghai
Participates in group exhibition at Guggenheim Museum, New York of permanent collection
2026 Forthcoming exhibition at Petzel, New York
Tschabalala Self
Rosehip
2025
Acrylic paint, oil paint, fabric, colored pencil, thread, painted paper, dyed canvas, painted canvas on canvas
96 x 96 inches
244 x 244 cm
Tschabalala Self
Conjure Woman
2025
Acrylic paint, oil paint, fabric, colored pencil, thread, dyed canvas, painted canvas on canvas
120 x 96 inches
304.8 x 234.8 cm
Tschabalala Self
Speak No
2025
Acrylic paint, oil paint, fabric, colored pencil, thread, painted canvas on canvas
120 x 96 inches
304.8 x 234.8 cm
Tschabalala Self
Bloom
2024
Fabric, dye, thread, acrylic paint and oil paint on linen
72 x 84 inches
182.9 x 213.4 cm
Tschabalala Self
Spiral
2024
Fabric, dye, thread, acrylic paint and oil paint on linen
72 x 84 inches
182.9 x 213.4 cm
Tschabalala Self
Chambre Rouge
2024
Acrylic paint, oil pastel, fabric, thread and painted canvas on canvas
84 x 72 inches
213.5 x 183 cm
Tschabalala Self
Sommeil Mielle
2024
Acrylic paint, fabric, thread and painted canvas on canvas
96 x 96 inches
244 x 244 cm
Tschabalala Self
The Voyeur
2024
Acrylic paint, oil pastel, fabric, thread, painted canvas on canvas
84 x 72 inches
213.5 x 183 cm
Tschabalala Self
Stern
2024
Acrylic paint, oil paint, fabric, thread, paper, oil pastel, dyed canvas, painted canvas on canvas
68 x 50 inches
172.7 x 127 cm
Installation view, Tschabalala Self, Bodega Run, Swiss Institute, New York, 2024
Installation view, Tschabalala Self, Bodega Run, Swiss Institute, New York, 2024
Installation view, Tschabalala Self, Bodega Run, Swiss Institute, New York, 2024
Installation view, Tschabalala Self, Bodega Run, Swiss Institute, New York, 2024
Installation view, Tschabalala Self, Around the Way, EMMA - ESPOO Museum of Modern Art, 2024
Installation view, Tschabalala Self, Around the Way, EMMA - ESPOO Museum of Modern Art, 2024
Installation view, Tschabalala Self, Inside Out, Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, 2023
Installation view, Tschabalala Self, Inside Out, Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, 2023
Installation view, Tschabalala Self, Inside Out, Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, 2023
Installation view, Tschabalala Self, Seated, Bexhill On Sea, UK, 2023
Installation view, Tschabalala Self, Seated, Bexhill On Sea, UK, 2023
Installation view, Tschabalala Self, Seated, Bexhill On Sea, UK, 2023
Installation view, Tschabalala Self, Make Room, Le Consortium, Dijon, 2022
Installation view, Tschabalala Self, Make Room, Le Consortium, Dijon, 2022
Installation view, Tschabalala Self, By My Self, Baltimore Museum of Art, 2021
Installation view, Tschabalala Self, By My Self, Baltimore Museum of Art, 2021
Installation view, Tschabalala Self, By My Self, Baltimore Museum of Art, 2021
Installation view, Tschabalala Self, Sounding Board, Performa, New York, 2021
Installation view, Tschabalala Self, Sounding Board, Performa, New York, 2021
Installation view, Tschabalala Self, Out of Body, ICA Boston, 2020
Installation view, Tschabalala Self, Out of Body, ICA Boston, 2020
Installation view, Tschabalala Self, Out of Body, ICA Boston, 2020
Installation view, Tschabalala Self, Bodega Run, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, 2019
Installation view, Tschabalala Self, Bodega Run, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, 2019
Installation view, Tschabalala Self, Bodega Run, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, 2019
