Gabrielle Goliath

Biography

Gabrielle Goliath’s practice centres on the histories and present-day conditions of black, brown, femme and queer life. Her multidisciplinary work challenges the paradigms of racialised and sexualised violence that underpin postcolonial and post-apartheid societies. The artist is committed to addressing and reimagining a social order that continues to sustain precarious and differentially valued life. Resisting systematic violence via communal, commemorative and restorative acts, Goliath aims to realise a future where avenues of accountability and restitution are available to all.

Goliath’s work has featured in numerous solo exhibitions, including Chorus, Dallas Contemporary (2022/3); This song is for…, Kunsthaus Baselland, Basel (2022); Chorus & This song is for… Vol I, Goodman Gallery, Cape Town (2021); This song is for…, Konsthall C, Stockholm (2021); This song is for… Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town (2019/20); Elegy - Louisa van de Caab, Iziko Slave Lodge, Cape Town (2018); Elegy - Lekita Moore, Duke University, Durham (2017); and Faces of War, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg (2014). She has participated in group exhibitions such as In Our Veins Flow Ink and Fire, Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Kochi (2023), Empowerment, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg (2022/3); The Power of My Hands, Afrique(s): artistes femmes, Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris (2021); A Biography of Daphne, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne (2021); Our Red Sky, Göteborgs Konsthall, Gothenburg (2020); Conversations in Gondwana, São Paulo Cultural Center, São Paul (2019); Harboured, Investec Cape Town Art Fair, Cape Town (2018); 11th Les Rencontres de Bamako African Biennale of Photography, PAC Pavilion of Contemporary Art , Bamako (2017) and Africa Raccontare un Mondo, Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea, Milan (2017), among others.

Her work can be found in the collections of Kunsthalle Zürich; Tate Modern, London; Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town; Frac Bretagne, Rennes; Johannesburg Art Gallery; and Wits Art Museum, Johannesburg.

She has won numerous awards including a Special Prize, Future Generation Art Prize 2019, the Standard Bank Young Artist Award (2019), and the Afrique en Créations Prize, Institut Français, Bamako Encounters Biennale, Mali (2017).

Goliath lectures at the Wits School of Art in Johannesburg and is currently a PhD candidate at the Institute for Creative Arts (ICA), University of Cape Town. She holds a BFA (2007) and an MFA (2011) from University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.

Born in Kimberley in 1983, she currently lives and works in Johannesburg.

SAF participation:
Sharjah Biennial 15 (2023)