Since Apartheid’s fall in 1994 Zwelethu Mthethwa’s stunning portraits have powerfully framed black South Africans as dignified and defiant, even under the duress of social and economic hardship. Working in urban and rural industrial landscapes, Mthethwa documents a range of aspects in South Africa – from domestic life and the environment to landscape and labour issues. His work challenges the conventions of both Western documentary work and African commercial studio photography, marking a transition away from the visually exotic and diseased – or “Afro-pessimism,” as curator Okwui Enwezor has referred to it – and employing a fresh approach marked by colour and collaboration.
ZWELETHU MTHETHWA (born in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, 1960) received his BFA from the Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town – a then “whites-only” university; he entered under special ministerial consent. In 1989, he earned a master’s degree in imaging arts while on a Fulbright Scholarship to the Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York. Mthethwa has had over thirty-five international solo exhibitions in the United States – including the highly-acclaimed Inner Views at Studio Museum in Harlem, 2010 – France, Germany, Italy, South Africa and Switzerland. Mthethwa has also been featured in numerous prominent group exhibitions, including the 2005 Venice Biennial; Snap Judgments: New Positions in Contemporary African Photography, New York, 2006; Prospect.1 New Orleans, 2008; and Africa Remix: Contemporary Art of a Continent, which toured internationally.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2010
Inner Views, Studio Museum in Harlem, New York
Zwelethu Mthethwa at iArt Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
Is it our goal…? And Other Related Issues, Circa on Jellicoe, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Brick Workers and Contemporary Gladiators, Galeria Oliva Arauna, Madrid, Spain

2009
New Works, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York

2008
Children of a Lesser God, Everard Read, Johannesburg
Contemporary Gladiators, Andréhn Schiptjenko, Stockholm

2007
Private-Public Spaces, Galerie Anne de Villepoix, Paris
Recent Works, Galerie Oliva Arauna, Madrid
Maidens and Dance of Life, Christine König, Vienna, in cooperation with Galerie Hengevoss-Dürkop

2006
Gold Miners, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York
New Works, Everard Read, Johannesburg, South Africa
Maidens, Galerie Hengevoss-Dürkop, Hamburg, Germany





2005
Women in Private Spaces, Andréhn-Schiptjenko Gallery, Stockholm
Ticket to the Other Side, Gallery Hengevoss-Dürkop, Hamburg

2004
Harvesting Workers, Davis Museum, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA
Lines of Negotiation, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York
New Works, Association for Visual Arts, Cape Town

2003
New Works, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York
Interior Portraits: Zwelethu Mthethwa Photographs, The Cleveland Museum of Art, OH
Hamburg Kunsthalle, Galerie der Gegenwart, Hamburg

2002
Marco Noire Contemporary Art, San Sebastiano, Italy
Museum of Contemporary Art, St Louis, MO
Galerie Hengevoss, Hamburg

2001
Private Spaces, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg
Galerie Jensen, Hamburg
Centre national de la Photoraphie, curated by Regis Durand, Paris
Mother & Child, Marco Noire Contemporary Art, San Sebastiano, Italy

2000
Jack Shainman Gallery, New York
Galerie Hengevos and Jensen, part of the Triennale der Photographie, Hamburg


1999
Rebirth, Project Room, FIAC Paris, Marco Noire Contemporary Art, Paris
Olivia Aruana Gallery, Madrid
Sacred Homes – Mother & Child, Palazzo della Esposizioni, Rome
Paris Pour Escale, Musee d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris
Art-World dialogue, Ludwig Museum, Koln, Germany
Foto Biennale Rotterdam, curated by Clive Kellner, Rotterdam
Galerie Hengevos and Jensen, part of the Triennale der Photographie, Hamburg
Project Room, Marco Noire Contemporary Art, ARCO, Madrid
Project Room, Art Koln, Marco Noire Contemporary Art, Koln, Germany
Towards-transit, Zurich
Art Chicago/At Navy Pier, Marco Noire Contemporary Art, Chicago

1998
Marco Noire Contemporary Art, San Sebastiano, Italy
Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg

1997
Kohn Turner Gallery, Los Angeles

1993
Gallery de Lyons, Cape Town

1992
Gallery de Lyons, Cape Town

1991
S.A. Association of Arts, Cape Town
African Arts Centre, Durban, South Africa

1987
College Union, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY

1986
S.A. Association of Arts, Cape Town

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2011
Impressions from South Africa, 1965 to Now, curated by Judith B. Hecker, Museum of Modern Art, New York
The Global Africa Project, curated by Lowery Stokes Sims and Leslie King-Hammond, Museum of Arts and Design, New York.
Environment and Object: Recent African Art, Tang Museum, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs
Figures and Fictions: Contemporary South African Photography, The Porter Gallery, V&A Museum, London

2010
Africa. Objects and Subject, touring: Palacio de Revillagigedo, Gijón, Spain; Canal de Isabel II, Madrid, Spain; Centro Cultural Cajstur, Oviedo, Spain

Km 89 Colección CGAC, Museo Arte Contemporáneo do Vigo, Vigo, Spain

8 Fotografias, 4 Continentes, Hotel Paris, Diputaction de Huelva Festival de Fotografia, Spain

A Collective Diary An African Contemporary Journey
Herzliya Museum for Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv, Israel, curated by Simon Njami

Always Moving Forward: Contemporary African Photography from the Wedge Collection, Gallery 44, Houston, TX
The Walther Collection, curated by Okwui Enwezor Burlafingen, Germany

2009
Prospect 1 New Orleans, New Orleans, LA
Sordid and Sacred: The Beggars in Rembrandt’s Etchings, Reynolds Gallery, Westmont College, Santa Barbara, CA
Beyond The Familiar: Photography And The Construction of Community, Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, MA
Cross-Currents in Recent Video Installation: Water as Metaphor for Identity, Tufts University Art Gallery, Medford, MA traveling to:
Williams College Museum of Art, MA
Harn Museum of Art, University of Florida, Gainesville
University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor
Rethinking Landscape: Photography from the Collection of Allen Thomas Jr., Roanoke Museum, VA
Sharing Territories, 5th Soa Tome Biennale, curated by Adelaide Ginga, Soa Tome and Principe

2008
People, Jim Kempner Fine Art, New York
Scratches on the Face, National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, traveling to:
National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai
Brave New Worlds, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN
Between Us – Entre Nous – Phakathi Kwethu, iArt Gallery, Cape Town
New Orleans Biennale
World Receiver: 10 Years Galerie der Gegenwart, Hamburger Kunsthalle, Germany

2007
Existencias, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León, MUSAC, León, Spain
Apartheid: El Mirall Sud-Africà, Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona
South African Art: Modern Art and Cultural Development in a Changing Society, Danubiana, Meulensteen Art Museum, Bratislava, Slovakia
So Close So Far Away, Crac Alsace, France
Defining Moments in Photograph from the MCA Collection, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
Planet Afrika: Carte Blanche, curated by Thomas Mank, Kultursysteme, Berlin

2006
The Living is Easy, Flowers East, Hoxton, London
Black Panther Rank and File, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco
Black, Brown & White, Kunsthalle Vienna, Austria
Snap Judgments: New Positions in Contemporary African Photography, International Center of Photography, New York
The Whole World is Rotten, Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, OH
Why Pictures Now, MUMOK Lounge, Museum Moderner Kunst, Stiftung Ludwig, Vienna
Cross-Currents in Recent Video Installation: Water as a Metaphor for Identity, Tisch Gallery, Boston
Adelaide Bank Festival of Arts, Artists’ Week 2006, curated by Julianne Pierce, Adelaide, Australia

2005
Emergencies, at the Museo de Arte Contemporeneo de Castilla y Leon, MUSAC, Spain
Ticket to the Other Side, Hengevoss-Duerkop Gallery, Hamburg
The Forest: Politics, Poetics, and Practice, The Nasher Museum at Duke University, NC
The Venice Biennial, The Experience of Art, Curated by Maria de Corral
New Work / New Acquisitions, Museum of Modern Art, New York
Green to Green and Beyond, Gallery W 52, New York
A Passion for Pictures, North Carolina Museum of Art
Imprints: Works on paper, Axis Gallery, New York
The Whole World is Rotten: Free Radicals and the Gold Coast Slave Castles of Paa Joe, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York
Earth and Memory: African and African-American Photograph, Elizabeth Stone Harper Gallery, Presbyterian College, Clinton, SC

2004-5
The Prague Biennale
African Art, African Voices, Philadelphia Museum of Art
Common Ground, Discovering Community in 150 Years of Art, Selections from the Collection of Julia J. Norrell, Corcoran Museum of Art, Washington, DC
Sao Paulo Biennial, curated by Simon Njami, Brazil
Tama University Art Gallery, Tokyo
Africa Remix, Zeitgenossische Kunst eines Kontinents, Traveling to:
Museum Kunst Palast, Dusseldorf
Hayward Gallery, London
Pompidou Centre, Paris
Mori Art Museum, Tokyo
Gwangju Biennale, South Korea
Where?, Clifford Chance Projects, New York

2004
Passaporto, Le Meridien Lingotto Art & Tech, Torino, Italy
Ipermercati dell’Arte, Palazzo delle Papesse, Sienna, Italy
Made in Africa Fotografia, Musei di Porta Romana, Milan
Festival della Fotografia, British Academy, Rome
Festival Couleur Café, curated by Hernau Bertiau, Tour et Taxis, Brussels
New Identities: Contemporary South Africa Art, Bochum Museum, Germany
Postcards from Cuba, a selection from the 8th Havana Biennale, Henie Onstad Kunstenter, Oslo
Vth Bamako Encounters, Afritudine, Musei di Porta Romama / Galleria Arteutopia, Italy
Grenier a sel, in Honfleur, France
Kornhausforum, Berne, Switzerland

2003-4
Body and the Archive,” Artists Space, New York
The Gift: Generous Offerings, Threatening Hospitality,” organized by Independent Curators International and traveling to:
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, AZ
Bronx Museum of the Arts, NY
Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth, NZ
Art Gallery of Hamilton, Ontario

2003
8th Havana Biennial, Cuba
Istanbul Biennial, curated by Dan Cameron
Strangers: The First ICP Triennial of Photography and Video, International Center of Photography, curated by Brian Wallis, New York
Prague Biennial, Czech Republic
Portraiture (Every Picture Tells A Story), Solomon Projects, Atlanta
Sharjah International Biennale, curated by Hoor Al-Qasimi and Peter Lewis

2002
New Acquisitions/ New Works/ New Directions 3: Contemporary Selections, Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Staging, Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, MO
Untitled, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York
In Situ – Portraits of People at Home, Hand Workshop Art Center, Richmond, VA
Cultural Crossing, Numark Gallery, Washington, DC
Fuoriuso, curated by Teresa Macri, Ferrotel, Pescara, Italy
Shopping: Art and Consumer Culture, traveling exhibition to:
Schrin Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Germany
Tate Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
Tracing the Rainbow, traveling exhibition to:
Kunst Raum Sylt-Quelle, Germany
Kulturverein Zehntscheuer, Rottenburg/Nechtar, Germany
Group Exhibition, Marco Noire Contemporary Art, San Sebastiano, Italy
Overnight to Many Cities: Tourism and Travel at Home and Away, The Photographers’ Gallery, London
Dis/location, Sala Rekalde, Bilbao, Spain
Centro Cultural de Maia, O’Porto, Portugal
Sudafrica: la pittura, la fotographia, il cinema, Centro Trevi, Bolzano, Italy
Videoarte Africana, 25° Bienal de Sao Paulo, Brazil

2001
I Love NY, benefit exhibition, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York
Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago
The Short Century: Independence and Liberation Movements in Africa 1945-1994, curated by Okwui Enwezor, traveling to:
Museum Villa Stuck, Munich
Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Martin-Gropius-Bau, Belgium
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
P.S. 1 Museum for Contemporary Art, New York
A Passion for Art: The Disaronno Originale Photography Collection, traveling to:
Miami Art Museum, FL
New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
University of California, Berkeley, Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, CA
Africa Today, curated by Pep Subiros, Centre de Cultura Contemporania de Barcelona, Spain
Boomerang: Collector’s Choice, Exit Art, New York

2000
Africa 2000: The Artist and the City, Barcelona Center for Contemporary Culture, Spain
Overnight to Many Cities: Travel and Tourism at Home and Away, 303 Gallery, New York
Paris pour escale, Musee d’Art Moderna de la Ville de Paris
The Gift, Generous Offerings, Threatening Hospitality, Palazzo delle Papesse, Siena traveling to:
Palazzo Candiolo, Venice
San Francisco, CA
Scottsdale Museum of Art, AZ
TRADE – Wares, ways and values in world trade today, Fotomuseum Wintherthur, Germany
Nederlands Foto Institut, Rotterdam
Centro de Belles Artes, Madrid
Storie Contemporanee, curated by Paola Tognon, Museo Civico di Bergamo, Italy
Frankfurtkunstverein, Frankfurt
Simultaneous, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York
A3HB, Hans Bogatske Collection of Contemporary African Art, Camouflage, Brussels
Five Artists Having Fun, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Australia
Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
A.R.E.A. 2000, curated by Gavin Younge, Kjarvaisstadir, Reykjavik, Iceland
South Meets West, Kunsthalle Bern, curated by Bernard Fibicher, Switzerland
Mirades Impudiques, curated by Rosa Olivares and Marta Gili, Fundacio La Caixa Barcelona
Dire Aids-Say Aids, Promotrice delle Belle Arti, Torino, Italy
Biennale Dakar, curated by Hans Bogatzke, Senegal
Arts and Human Rights, Kwangju International Biennale, curated by Ichiro Hariu, Seoul, Korea
Home, Perth International Arts Festival, Art Gallery of Perth Cultural Centre, Australia
Il Sentimento del 2000, Arte E Foto: 1960/2000, La Triennale de Milano
Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth
Mostra Africana de Arte Conemporanea, Video Brazil, Sao Paulo
L’Afrique a jour, in collaboration with Biennale Dakar 2000, AFAA, Lille, France
Pusan International Contemporary Art Festival, curated by Rosa Martinez, Pusan, Korea
Foto Biennale Rotterdam, curated by Clive Kellner

1999
Liberated Voices: Contemporary Art from South Africa, The Museum for African Art, New York, traveling to:
Austin Museum of Art, TX
Iris & B. Gerald Canto Center For Visual Arts at Stanford University, CA
The University of Arizona Museum of Art, Tucson
Site Santa Fe: Looking for a Place, curated by Rosa Martinez, NM
Goteborgs Kunstmuseum, curated by Lena Boethues, Goteborg, Sweden
Photospana 99: images of dignity, curated by Miguel Angel Invarato, Madrid
Rewind fast forward. Za, Van Reekum Museum in Appeldoorn Museum, Holland
Images for Dignity, PhotoEspane 99, Barcelona
Project Conflux, Tendaces Mikado, Luxembourg
Fondazione Bevelacqua, curated by Luca Massimo Barbero, Venice, Italy
Camouflage, Hans Bogatzke Collection of Contemporary African Art, Brussels
South Meets West, The National Museum Accra, Ghana, traveling to:
Kunsthalle Bern, Bern, Switzerland
Staking Claims, The Granary - part of the One City Many Cultures Festival, Cape Town

1998
Houston Photo Festival, Houston, TX
Dakar Biennale, Senegal
A History of African Photography”, La Maison Europeenne de la Photo, Paris
Africa, Africa, Tobu Museum, Tokyo
Democracy’s Images: photographs and visual art after Apartheid, Bild Museum Sweden
The Klein Karoo National Arts Festival, Sasol Art Collection
Africa by Africa, Barbican Art Gallery, Barbican Centre, London
Yesterday Begins Tomorrow: Ideals, Dreams, and the Contemporary Awakening,Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, NY
Blank ….. State of Architecture + Urban Planning in South Africa, Netherlands Architecture Institute
Architecture, Apartheid and After, curated by Hilton Judin, Van Reekum Museum, Rotterdam
Awakening, Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, NY

1997
Lift Off, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg
Trade Routes: History and Geography, curated by Okwui Enwezor and Octavio Zaya, Johannesburg Biennale, Electric Workshop, Gauteng, South Africa
Photo Syntesis-Contemporary South African Photography, Grahamstown Art Festival
National Museum of Contemporary Art, Oslo, Norway
La Boheme: Noir, Primart Gallery, Cape Town
Association for Visual Arts, CRAM, Cape Town

1996
Adelson Gallery, New York
Association for Visual Arts, Cape Town

1995
World Economic Forum Group Show, Davos, Switzerland
Crosscurrents, Very Special Arts Gallery, Washington D.C.
Africa 95, Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, Great Britain and Dusseldorf, Germany
Artists for Peace ‘95, Palais des Nations (UN Geneva), travelling to Geneva Switzerland and Dusseldorf, Germany
S.A. Association of Arts - 3 Person Show, Cape Town
Johannesburg Biennale, South Africa

1994
Crosscurrents, S.A. artists group show, Barbara Gillman Gallery, Miami Beach, FL
S.A. Artists, Ottobrunn, Germany

1993
Grand Prix International d’Arts Plastiques, International Visual Arts, Nice, France
Biennale of Illustration, Bratislava, Slovan Republic
Abidjan Biennale, Ivory Coast

1992
Singapore Exhibition, Group Show of South African artists

1991
Dalijosafat Arts Centre, Paarl
S.A. Association of Arts, Cape Town

1990
N.S.A Gallery, Durban, South Africa

1989
Memorial Art Museum, Rochester, NY

1988
Bethune Gallery, S.U.N.Y., Buffalo, NY
Rainbow Gallery, S.U.N.Y., Brockport, NY

1986
S.A. Association of Arts, Cape Town, South Africa
Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre, University of Natal, Durban, South Africa

1985
Michaelis Gallery, University of Cape Town, South Africa

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Beckwith, Naomi; Bettelheim, Judith; Cozier, Christopher; Lasky, Julie; Mapily, José Julian; Recker, Keith; and Whitfield, Tony.
The Global Africa Project, Museum of Modern Arts and Design, Prestel Publishing: New York, 2010

Marsha Meskimmon
Contemporary Art and the Cosmopolitan Imagination, Routledge: New York, 2011

Sue Williamson
“Zwelethu Mthethwa.” South African Art Now, HarperCollins: New York, 2010.

Okwui Enwezor, Isolde Brielmaier
Zwelethu Mthethwa, Aperture Foundation: New York, 2010

Okwui Enwezor, Chika Okeke-Agula,
Contemporary African Art Since 1980, Damiani: Bologna, 2009.

AWARDS

2005
Commissioned for the International Absolut Collection

2004
Nobel Square – Technical Committee Member
Review Committee Member – Roggebaai Tourism Precinct

1999
Adjudicator, National Panel for the ABSA Atelier Awards. (National)
Jury Member for Damilier Chrysler Award. (National)
Adjudicator, Windsor Newton Millenium Painting Competition. (National)
Adjudicator, Zonnebloem Fine Art Wine Label Competition. (National)
Adjudicator, Truworths Painting Workshop.
Elected on to the Association for Visual Arts Executive Committee.

1998
Panelist, National Arts Council.
Nominated for the Vita Awards.

1996
Vice-Chairman of the Association for Visual Arts and convenor of its Selection Committee
Committee member of the Friends of the S.A. National Gallery

1995
Vice-Chairman of the S.A. Association of Arts (Western Cape)

1994
Invited to judge, select and appraise work for the Volskas Atelier Award Competition

1993
City of Abijan prize, Biennale (Ivory Coast)
Bertrams V.O. Award Indigenous People.

1987
Fullbright Scholarship to study in the USA, Rochester Institute of Technology

1985
Irma Stern Scholarship

1984
Class Medal for graduation with a distinction in the Fine Arts Department (UCT)

1981
Simon Gerson Prize for the most promising art student (UCT).

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

V&A Museum, London
Deutsche Bank, Frankfurt
Getty Museum , Los Angeles
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, CA
The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY
Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY
The New Museum, New York, NY
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA
National Museum of African Art, Washington, DC
Pretoria Art Museum, South Africa
Mary and Leigh Block Gallery, North Western University
University of South Africa
Durban Art Gallery, South Africa
Tatham Art Gallery, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa
South African Embassy, Washington D.C.
Sasol, Durban, Cape Town, New York
Cape Department of Education Trust, South Africa
Arco Foundation, Madrid
Gilbey’s Ltd.
Metropolitan Life, South Africa
South African Breweries, South Africa
Old Mutual, South Africa
Gencor S.A. Ltd, South Africa
Transnet Ltd, South Africa
Sanlam, South Africa
Johannesburg Art Gallery, South Africa
S.A. Reserve Bank, South Africa
Herdboys, South Africa
Rand Merchant Bank, South Africa
Wooltru, Cape Town, South Africa
Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University
Kunsthalle Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
South African National Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
LaSalle Bank, Chicago, IL
Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Castilla y Leon, Madrid, Spain
Progressive Corporate Art Collection, Mayfield Village, OH
North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC
Bouwfonds Art Collection, Netherlands
The Corcoran Museum Gallery of Art, Washington DC, USA
Daimler Chrysler Collection, Germany
Smithsonian Museum, Washington DC, USA
Boland Bank, South Africa
PKS, South Africa
Siemans Ltd, South Africa
ABSA Bank, South Africa
MTN Collection, South Africa
Vodacom Collection, South Africa
JSE – Stock Exchange, South Africa
Stellenbosch University, South Africa
Samuel Harn Museum, Miami, USA
Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig, Vienna, Austria
Absolut Collection, Sweden
Ministere Culture Communication, France
Pompidou Centre, France
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam

TEACHING



2000
Research Associate at Michaelis School of Fine Art, UCT

1998
Appointed Senior Lecturer, Michaelis School of Fine Art, UCT

1994-98
Lecturer of Photography and Drawing at Michaelis School of Fine Art, UCT

1991-93
Customer Projects Coordinator for Truworths

1988-89
Assistant Coordinator Children’s Project for Community Arts Project

1986-87
Cultural Organizer for Department of Education and Training