Stacey Gillian (Rhodes Associate Artist and the 2017 Artist in Residency with the Residencies for Artists and Writers (RAW) programme, Arts of Africa and Global Souths Research programme, Fine Art Department, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa). Stacey Gillian Abe’s concepts highlight specific complex situations as autobiographical documentation drawn from earlier and continuous experiences, they attempt to review conventional depictions of her as a black woman by drawing focus to the mind’s suppleness. These materialize into created imaginary spaces that instigate a surreal mystical feel to the work as it probes unsettling narratives on the subject of identity, gender, spirituality and cultural mysticism, the past and present.

Abe graduated with a BA Hons in Art and Industrial Design from Kyambogo University, Kampala in 2014. Her work has shown at exhibitions, galleries, fairs and biennales among others; AtWork Kampala Chapter 03, Being Her(e) KAURU Contemporary 2017, Blachere Foundation, Johannesburg Gallery, This Is Not A White Cube (TINAWC)Luanda, Investec Cape Town Art Fair 2018, 1:54 Fair New York 2018, AKAA Art Fair, Paris 2019, ARCO Lisboa 2019, 4th Silk Road Festival, Xi’an China 2017, 13th Dakar Biennale off 2018, Addis Foto Fest, Addis Ababa 2019 and The Stellenbosch Triennale 2020.
She was awarded a Prince Claus Fund in 2016, a research award- Residency for Artists and Writers (RAW) Arts of Africa and the Global Souths-Rhodes University and The Mellon Foundation South Africa 2017, NMK Special Prize award: CYNET Art and C. Rockefeller Centre Dresden Germany 2018, ABSA Barclays L’Atelier 2018 First Merit Award South Africa, Urbane Künste Ruhr Scholarly award Germany 2019, IWALEWAHAUS Art award Germany (2019) and is listed in the Forbes Africa 30 under 30 creatives 2018.

Last Modified: Tue, 10 Mar 2020 11:58:18 SAST