Magadlela Turiya

Magadlela studied at the Funda Community College (1998) and the University of Johannesburg (1999 - 2001) in South Africa and Rijksakademie, Amsterdam.

Turiya has been featured in a list of the top "10 African artists to invest in now" by the TimesLive in 2018, and shortlisted for the Jean-François Prat Prize. 

Employing art-making techniques traditionally associated with femininity and craft, the South African artist Turiya Magadlela sews and embroiders nylon pantyhose, correctional service uniforms, prison sheets, and other conceptually loaded fabrics to address issues that shape a gendered and racialized society.

Since winning the FNB Art Prize in 2015, she has shown at the 2016 Armory Show and exhibited around the world.

Her work was included in the acclaimed group show “Blue Black,” curated by artist Glenn Ligon at the Pulitzer Arts Foundation in St. Louis.

Magadlela cuts, stitches, and folds her materials across wooden frames to create multilayered abstract compositions.

Drawing from her experiences as a Black woman and a mother as well as from Black South African history, Magadlela’s works serve as vibrant celebrations of Black womanhood while simultaneously suggesting the implicit eroticization of and violence against the Black body.