Artist Database

Malebona Maphutse is a Johannesburg-based visual artist with a BA (Fine Arts) from the University of Witwatersrand. She works in heterogeneous media, particularly painting, sculptural installation, linocut printing, digital prints and video art. The artist challenges historical narratives in her practice and investigates how bodies transcend mere existence, not only encountering space but also understanding the politics of space.

Maphutse’s work has been exhibited at major international exhibitions including the Bergen Triennial 2019 (The Dead are not Dead) and the Stellenbosch Triennial 2020 (Tomorrow there will be more of us).

She produced the digital interactive work (We don't Die we Multiply: Siyagoduka Ka Spaceship Babez) during a fellowship at the ICA/Institute for Creative Arts in Cape Town. Her second solo show (Siyagoduka Ka Flying Saucer Babez: Back to the Future) was held at Kalashnikovv Project Space P72ps recently, and Maphutse participated in a DUO show with Natalie Paneng (I Wanna Rock Lefatshe) at TMRW Gallery. She has been awarded artist-in-residencies both locally and overseas, including at the Bag Factory Artists’ Studios in Johannesburg, the Wiels Contemporary Art Centre in Brussels (Belgium) and the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris (France).