Jamal Nxedlana
Jamal Nxedlana (b. 1985 Durban, South Africa; lives Johannesburg, South Africa) is an artist and cultural worker. His practice explores how the Black figure is materially and symbolically embodied and embraced; and themes related to subcultures, consumerism, and racialized and gendered identity expressions in postcolonial contexts. Specifically, he is concerned with fashion as a domain of intellectual and cultural inquiry, explored through individual and collective cultural identities in the Johannesburg metropolis as they intersect with geopolitical practices, technologies and infrastructural logistics. He has exhibited internationally in galleries, institutions, and independent spaces. Recent exhibitions include SPECTRUM (2023), his second solo exhibition at No Man’s Art Gallery in Amsterdam; Orlando (2022) curated by Tilda Swinton at the Fotomuseum Winterthur, Switzerland; and The New Black Vanguard (2019) curated by Antwaun Sargent at Aperture Gallery in New York.
As a cultural worker, Nxedlana has founded numerous influential independent organisations in Johannesburg where he was based for 14 years before moving to Switzerland. Key among these is Bubblegum Club, a digital platform and culture agency showcasing innovative new work and creating opportunities for emerging cultural workers. He is also a founding member of CUSS Group, a Johannesburg-based collective that has been exploring the hybrid culture of post-colonial South Africa since 2011. CUSS has shown in major institutions including Kunsthall Trondheim Norway (2023), Moderna Museet Stockholm (2019); de Young Museum (2017) and Berlin Biennale (2016).
Read More
