Open Air: Artist Talk with Billie Zangewa

Join our July Open Air virtual artist talk, which will feature internationally-acclaimed artist Billie Zangewa. Her works explore themes of society, identity, and feminism through an intricate creative practice. Discover Zangewa's labor-intensive processes, which recall the historic implications of "women's work," but remain a steadfastly contemporary interpretation of lived experiences.

Her exhibition, Billie Zangewa: Thread for a Web Begun (on view June 17-September 11, 2022), brings together silk tapestries spanning 15 years of her career. Although many of the scenes depicted in Zangewa's layered silk tapestries are autobiographical, there is a relatability that goes beyond her personal journey as an artist.

Zangewa states "I use fabric and sewing, which traditionally is a female pastime, to empower myself. I tell my personal story, how it’s happening on the home front, and show the intimate life of a woman, which usually we’re not encouraged to do."

Learn more about Zangewa in Artnet News, October 2020.

About Open Air

Open Air is a monthly series of virtual studio visits and intimate conversations with Black contemporary artists across the globe. Join us monthly as we celebrate a featured artist in one of our latest exhibitions.

This free virtual program will be livestreamed on the Gantt's Facebook page and YouTube channel at 7 pm on July 12. Viewers may submit questions via comments/chat to the artist during the livestreamed program.

Billie Zangewa creates intricate collages composed of hand-stitched fragments of raw silk. These figurative compositions explore contemporary intersectional identity in an attempt to challenge the historical stereotype, objectification, and exploitation of the black female form. Beginning her career in the fashion and advertising industries, Zangewa employs her understanding of textiles to portray personal and universal experiences through domestic interiors, urban landscapes, and portraiture. Often referencing scenes or experiences from everyday life, Zangewa has stated that she is interested in depicting the work done by women that keeps society running smoothly, but which is often overlooked, undervalued, or ignored. Through the method of their making and their narrative content, Zangewa's silk paintings illustrate gendered labor in a socio-political context, where the domestic sphere becomes a pretext for a deeper understanding of the construction of identity, questions around gender stereotypes, and racial prejudice.

Zangewa received her BFA from Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa in 1995. Solo exhibitions of her work have been organized by Galerie Templon, Paris, France (2020); Afronova Gallery, Grand Palais, Paris, France (2017); Johann Levy Gallery, Paris, France (2008); and Gerard Sekoto Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa (2005).

Zangewa's work is in several public and private collections including the Centre Pompidou, Paris, France; Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH; Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington, D.C.; Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, Atlanta, GA; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands; and Tate Modern, London, United Kingdom. In 2018, Zangewa was selected as the Featured Artist for the FNB Art Joburg Fair.

Dexter Wimberly is an American curator, based in Japan, who has organized exhibitions in galleries and institutions around the world. Wimberly's exhibitions have been featured in leading publications including The New York Times and Artforum, and have received support from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Wimberly is the co-founder and CEO of Art World Learning, and a Senior Critic at New York Academy of Art.