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Tschabalala Self - Artists - Petzel Gallery

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)

Career Highlights

Tschabalala Self - Artists - Petzel Gallery

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

Tschabalala Self - Artists - Petzel Gallery

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 

Tschabalala Self - Artists - Petzel Gallery

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

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, 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, 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, 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, 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, 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, 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, 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, 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

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