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The youngest of five children, Self grew up in Harlem, New York. Her parents moved to New York from New Orleans in the 1970s, so her father could pursue an MFA in writing at Columbia University. Both of her parents worked in education in New York City. Her mother's passion for sewing and textiles inspired Self to explore textiles as a medium in her practice. Over time assemblages made of printed, painted and sewn materials became the technique for which she is widely known today. Tschabalala Self's parents instilled a strong black identity in their children. They had experienced racial segregation, born into the pre-civil rights era in the American South, but were also part of the first generation to experience the political changes. This awareness shaped Self.

Self-confident black women, endowed with voluptuous female body shapes and dressed in brightly colored fabrics with expressive ornamentation, have become the artist's central pictorial motif, her trademark, so to speak - pure vital energy. And the people portrayed by Self are often depicted in interiors that are just as colorful as they are.

This is also the case in her most recent work, entitled LA FENÊTRE. The painting is part of a series which explores Black American identity in regard to French aesthetics and French history. Paris has long been a sanctuary for Black creatives escaping the pervasive racism of America. The city has offered a haven where artists, writers, and performers could find the freedom to express themselves without the constant burden of racial prejudice; Josephine Baker and James Baldwin stand out as prominent examples in this narrative. The paintings pay homage to French painters, specifically Henri Matisse, whose exploration of the Black figure in his paintings is a compelling facet of his work, reflecting a deep engagement with diasporic art and its impact on modernist aesthetics. 

Even as a teenager, Self noticed how the bodies of Black women were showcased in pop culture. “That was in the early 2000s, in the era of music videos and video vixens,” she says, referring to the women of color who performed as backup dancers for male musicians. The observation that the body shapes experiences and determines self-image and the perception of others has become a central aspect of Tschabalala Self's work. She is concerned with the body that "I can talk about most honestly, namely my own".

• since 2019 part of the Pinakothek der Moderne collection 
• Will create the Forth Plinth in Trafalgar Square, London, in 2026
• 2025 Solo exhibition at the Longlati Foundation, Shanghai
• Solo Show at the Art Basel Paris 2024 with Galerie Eva Presenhuber
• Further solo exhibitions: Espoo Museum of Modern Art, Finland, Swiss Institute, New York, Le Consortium, Dijon, Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore
• Represented in major public collections such as Art Institute of Chicago; Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Guggenheim Museum, NY, Whitney Museum, NY
• June 2024 multi-page portrait about Self in Art
• Rare opportunity to acquire one of Self's highly sought-after, rare paintings

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More Information

- Studio visit

- Artist talk on the occasion of the solo exhibition at the Kunstmuseum St. Gallen

- Artist website of Galerie Eva Presenhuber

- Solo Show at the Art Basel Paris 2024 with Galerie Eva Presenhuber

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