Mary Sibande

Our Lady of Grace 2023 Automotive Paint and Acrylic on Steel 69 x 42 cm ED 9 #marysibande

Mary Sibande, Palesa Mokubung, Nkhensani Nkosi | Sophie’s Closet Everard Read Johannesburg Opening 14 May 2026 On 14 May, Everard Read Johannesburg presents “Sophie’s Closet” with “MANTSHO” featuring “Stoned Cherrie Home” - a collaboration bringing together the practices of Mary Sibande, Palesa Mokubung founder of “MANTSHO”, and Nkhensani Nkosi, the creative force behind “Stoned Cherrie Home”. At the centre of the exhibition is “Sophie” - Sibande’s iconic sculptural figure - whose evolving narrative continues to engage histories of labour, memory and identity. In this presentation, “Sophie” enters a new phase, situated within a dialogue between sculpture, couture and homeware. Together, Sibande, Mokubung, and Nkosi bring their distinct and complementary visions into conversation - interrogating inherited narratives while conjuring new futures through craftsmanship, colour, and image-making. Art. Fashion. Home. The three spaces where identity is built and lived. For the duration of the exhibition, “MANTSHO” will take up residence within the gallery, transforming the space into an environment where garments, objects and artworks are brought into relation. Please join us for the opening on 14 May at Everard Read Johannesburg. #EverardRead #EverardReadJoahnnesburg #EverardReadGallery #ArtExhibition #Sculptures #Art #Artwork

We're pleased to announce that David Krut Arts, New York is participating in the inaugural Conductor Fair, currently on at Powerhouse Arts, New York until 3 May 2026. The Fair focuses on the Global Majority and Indigenous nations around the globe, prioritising access and inclusivity with the goal of fostering cultural exchange and expanding opportunities to develop markets in New York. At this year’s Conductor Fair, we’re showcasing works from a new series by Mary Sibande, titled “A View Through the Peephole.” In these painterly monotypes, the artist situates her alter ego – Sophie - within an intimate register: dreaming, idling, and inhabiting moments of everyday joy long denied to Black women under apartheid. The works propose rest and imagination not as indulgences, but as radical assertions of the right to simply exist. To view more of Mary Sibande’s work in Johannesburg, visit us at: David Krut Arts 151 Jan Smuts Avenue Parkwood, Johannesburg #MarySibande #DavidKrutProjects #DavidKrutWorkshop #davidkrutnewyork

Title: I’m counting on the waters to carry me through... and drift, 2026 Medium: Watercolour monotype ghost print with hand painting Paper: Hahnemuhle 300 gsm Paper size: 85.2 x 73.5 cm Image Size: 71.5 x 71 cm The series consists of eight watercolour monotypes and their ghosts, continuing my iconic use of blue in The Peephole Series. As the maker, I position the viewer to observe Sophie engaged in leisurely activities, but that gaze is mediated and restricted through a peephole. The peephole becomes a device of control and distance; it limits what can be seen while heightening a sense of curiosity and intrusion. It suggests secrecy, surveillance, and a quiet violation of privacy, placing the viewer in an uneasy position between passive observer and active voyeur. A new softness is emerging in my work, a shift toward an imagined sense of leisure. These are prints, works on paper, and I placed Sophie’s leisurely activities on paper intentionally. There is something about paper that feels intimate, almost like a postcard that says, “wish you were here,” a snapshot of a place, a mood, an experience. A piece of paper you can take home that will later become a memory. In these works, I show Sophie doing things she was once denied as a Black woman during apartheid, resting, dreaming, finding joy in the everyday. She refuses the boundaries that institutions once used to restrict Black people’s access to freedom and leisure. Here, she claims space for joy, for rest, for imagination. And that, in itself, is a radical act, to simply be. A big shout out to @roxykaczmarek and the rest of the team at @davidkrutprojects .

🇫🇷 Mary Sibande, née en 1982 en Afrique du Sud et représentée par la galerie Everard Read, a été sélectionnée par Alexia Fabre pour sa thématique 𝘓𝘢 𝘳𝘦́𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 🕊️ et pour le Prix Her Art ! « Elle développe un univers en forme et en couleur, alliant tissu et sculpture pour déclamer les états au monde de ses personnages. […] Dans tous ses états, dans les couleurs de ses sentiments, l’avatar de Mary Sibande, à son image, ferme encore les yeux et tente de “réparer les vivants”. » . 🇬🇧 Mary Sibande, who was born in South Africa en 1982 and is represented by the gallery Everard Read, was selected by Alexia Fabre for her theme 𝘙𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 🕊️ and for the Her Art Prize! “Combining fabric and sculpture, she creates an imaginary world in which colour expresses the social condition and emotions of her characters.But whatever her condition, whatever colour she is and whatever she is feeling, Sophie’s eyes are always closed in an effort to ‘bring reparation to the living’.” 🖼️ Mary Sibande, The Geometry of Mercy, 2024, Everard Read 🕊️ 𝘓𝘢 𝘳𝘦́𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 / 𝘙𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 🕊️ #ArtParis #ArtParis2026 #MarySidibande #EverardRead #SouthAfricanContemporaryArt @marysibande @everard_read_johannesburg @everard_read_cape_town_ @everard_read_london @everardreadfranschhoek

To every single Sophie who has carried children not born of her womb, but raised on her back and loved by her heart, I thank you. The work done by @marysibande and her Sophie to show the dreams unrealized ... I dance for you and with you Sophie. In South Africa, so many women have sacrificed raising their own children in person to raise others' children so that their own children are able to have better lives. One day, I hope we can have more conversations about the impact of nannies on so many lives. I am so grateful to the villages that have raised so many. Can we please have a day that celebrates the "other mothers". #capetownartfair #contemporaryart #artisforall #attitudedevant #artisforeveryone

Does It End in a Miracle? Now showing at @everard_read_cape_town_ 📸ph: @lungii.ngcobo

Now we dance in synchronicity. Presented by @everard_read_cape_town_ at the @investeccapetownartfair

Identity isn’t something you hang on a wall. It’s something you carry with you. In this episode of Art in Focus, Mary Sibande, Sahlah Davids and Leila Abrahams unpack how heritage, illness, colour symbolism and mentorship shape their practice, and how artists carry the responsibility of preserving and evolving cultural memory. About the series: Ahead of the Investec Cape Town Art Fair 2026, Investec's Tristanne Farrell sits down with collectors, curators, investors, gallerists and emerging artists to unpack the business of art, spotlight powerful women in the industry, explore AI and creativity, and celebrate identity and heritage across Africa. 🔗 Link in bio for full episode. #ArtInFocus #ICTAF

A snow capped mountain hums softly. SOPHIE glides down, effortless. Snow lifts gently behind her. Her face is calm, almost amused. Miriam Makeba’s Lakutshon’ Ilanga carries the scene, steady and timeless, softening the vastness and giving grace to her descent. Off from Mont Blanc… 2025 Silkscreen print in 24 colours 42.0 × 59.4 cm Printed @floodhouse_sa printing studio

It’s been ten long years since Sophie made her escape into self-imposed exile. Now, she’s sending us letters and images documenting her new-found journey of leisure. The images show her playing tennis, looking at a luxury fragrance, playing golf or sitting on a swing—activities once forbidden to her. By sending images of herself engaged in leisure activities that were historically denied to her, Sophie refuses to be confined by the constraints imposed by institutions that limited black people’s freedom and participation in leisure activities. For the first time, we witness Sophie delving deeper into her dreams, fully embracing the pleasures of leisure. Our relationship with Mary Sibande goes back to 2023 when she and David Krut Projects printer, Sbongiseni Khulu started their woodcut collaboration. In her latest collaboration, the artist created two versions of Sophie: Behind The Fan, Among Barberton Daisies I (in black and white) and Behind The Fan, Among Barberton Daisies II (in black, white and blue). Visit the David Krut Gallery to see Sibande’s latest woodcuts amongst work by other South African artists as we celebrate our 2025 printmaking collaborations! A Year of Mark Making The David Krut Gallery 151 Jan Smuts Ave For more information DM us or email [email protected] #MarySibande #DavidKrutGallery #davidkrutworkshop #SouthAfricanArt

Mary Sibande x Palesa Mokubung | Sophie’s Closet⁣ ⁣ Everard Read Johannesburg CIRCA⁣ 6 November – 31 December 2025⁣ ⁣ “Sophie at the Opera — Dressed in Mantsho” marks a significant collaboration between celebrated visual artist Mary Sibande and award-winning fashion designer Palesa Mokubung, founder of Mantsho. Central to Sibande’s practice is her iconic avatar, Sophie, a figure who has evolved from the uniform of servitude into a vision of possibility. Once defined by the modest attire of domestic work, Sophie now appears in couture, embodying the reclamation of narrative and the force of Black women’s imagination.⁣ ⁣ In this collaboration, Sophie functions as both muse and medium, a vivid presence through which sculpture, fashion, and storytelling intersect. Her return introduces Sophie’s Social Calendar, a new chapter in her unfolding story, where she enters cultural spaces, private settings, and shared environments of collective imagination with assured presence.⁣ ⁣ On view at our Circa Gallery until 31 December 2025.⁣ ⁣ #EverardRead #EverardReadJohannesburg #EverardReadGallery #ArtExhibition #SouthAfricanArt #Sculptures #Art #AfricanArt #Artwork