ABOUT KIMATHI
Kimathi Mafafo is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice ranges from embroidery and oil painting to installation.
Kimathi obtained a National Diploma in Fine Arts from the College of Cape Town in 2007 and a National Diploma in Film and Video from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology in 2016.
Born in the semi-arid Kimberley in the Northern Cape of , Mafafo questions historical stereotypes around gender inequality in Africa.
She primarily focuses on celebrating the black female and depicting abstracted forms typically surrounded by verdant imagery, characterised by lush greenery and sensuous drapery that are far removed from the dusty mining town where she grew up.
Awards
Finalist for the Ares Art Prize (2022)
Recepient of The Norval Sovereign African Art Prize 2022
Recent Exhibitions
2025
Investec Art Fair, CTICC, Cape Town
SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2015
Withdrawn, World Art, Cape Town.
2017
Alone in Spring, Ebony Curated, Cape Town.
2018
Investec Art Fair, CITCC, Cape Town.
2019
Embolden, Ebony Curated, Cape Town.
2021
Gestures from The Awakened Mind, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, London.
2022
Kgolagano: A Covenant, Ebony Curated, Cape Town.
2023
Wandering in the Unknown World, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, Berlin.
2024
Ebullience, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, London.
GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2022
Also Known As Africa (AKAA), Paris.
‘DIVERSITY’, Rupert Museum, Stellenbosch.
‘Geleceg(n)iDokumak’, CerModern Museum, Ankara.
‘(IM)MATERIALITY’, This Is Not A White Cube, Lisbon.
Art Paris, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, Paris.
Investec Art Fair, Cape Town.
2021
A Very Loop Street Summer’, EBONY/CURATED, Cape Town.
‘Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt’, FNB Art Joburg, Open City, Keyes Art Mile, Johannesburg.
1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, EBONY/CURATED, London, England
‘Threads’, The Duende Art Project, Monastery of the Zwartzusters, Antwerp.
Presentation with This Is Not a White Cube, Lisbon.
‘Facing the Sun’, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, Schloss Goerne, Germany.
‘Knotted Ties’, Lobby Gallery, Christie’s New York.
1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, (Virtual Representation) EBONY/CURATED New York.
‘In [the] Loop, EBONY/CURATED, Cape Town.
2020
‘Devils in The Details’, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, London, United Kingdom
FNB Art Joburg, Johannesburg.
Intersect Chicago online edition of SOFA Expo, Chicago, United States of America
1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, London, United Kingdom
‘FEMINIST UTOPIA’ curated by Anelisa Mangcu, EBONY/CURATED, Cape Town.
LATITUDES Art Fair (Virtual Representation), EBONY/CURATED, Johannesburg.
1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, New York, United States of America
Investec Cape Town Art Fair, EBONY/CURATED.
2019
Angel’, St Antoine Church, in association with Muse Contemporary, Istanbul, Turkey
‘Spotlight’, LATITUDES Art Fair, EBONY/CURATED, Johannesburg.
‘Botanica II’, Curated by Adele van Heerden for Art B Gallery, Cape Town.
‘Textile’, Curated by Amy Pike for Dyman Gallery, Stellenbosch.
‘Filling in the Gaps’, Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town.
Investec Cape Town Art Fair, EBONY/CURATED, Cape Town.
‘Connections’, Greatmore Studios, Cape Town.
2018
Also Known As Africa’ (AKAA) 2018, Paris.
‘Summer Exhibition’, EBONY/CURATED, Cape Town.
2017
Colourchart’, EBONY/CURATED, Cape Town.
‘Turbine Art Fair’, EBONY/CURATED Stand, Johannesburg.
‘Art Africa Fair’, Cape Town.
‘A Painting Today’, Stevenson, Cape Town.
2016
‘Turbine Art Fair’, EBONY/CURATED Stand, Johannesburg.
‘Summer Exhibition’, EBONY/CURATED, Cape Town.
COLLECTIONS Nelson Mandela Art Museum, Gqeberha.
The Beth Rudin DeWoody Collection, Palm Beach.
William Humphreys Art Gallery, Kimberley.
Standard Bank Corporate Art Collection, Johannesburg.
Africa First Collection, Israel.
IZIKO South African National Gallery, Cape Town.
The Art Bank of South Africa, Oliewenhuis Art Museum, Bloemfontein.
The Irma Stern Museum, The University of Cape Town.
Fondation H Museum, Antananarivo, Madagascar.