Tschabalala Self: Skin Tight

The first Australian solo exhibition of celebrated U.S artist Tschabalala Self, one of the most-in-demand figurative painters working today. Self’s distinctive style combines fabric, collage and painting with innovative printing techniques and a steadfast focus on beauty as a form of artistic resistance. With new and recent large-scale paintings, works on paper and an immersive 3-channel video installation, Skin tight introduces Australian audiences to a practice celebrated for its beauty and sophistication. Born in 1990 in Harlem, New York, Tschabalala Self works out of her studio in the picturesque Hudson Valley. Her work is inspired by her ancestral and familial ties to New Orleans and is infused with a vibrancy drawn from the Harlem Renaissance, as well as jazz, dance, and performance. Self channels these energies into profound reflections on Black embodiment and experience. For her exhibition at ACCA, Self has designed a series of contemplative, psychologically charged immersive spaces, filled with striking 2D and 3D works. The exuberant characters that populate Skin Tight push audiences to consider how we construct our identities – and how we both perceive and are perceived by the world around us.