September 2021
Online Exhibition

Four You Gallery is delighted to present ‘Phenomenology of A Black Woman’, a group exhibition curated by Nomaza Nongqunga Coupez, the first collective show of female African artists that the gallery has hosted to date. ‘Phenomenology of A Black Woman’ features the work of Artists Claire Idera, Damilola Onosowobo, Lesego Seoketsa, and Muofhe Manavhela.

Bringing together an international and multigenerational group of artists, Phenomenology of Black Women provides the viewer an untainted lens through which they can gain an understanding of the interrelationship of race, class, gender, and stratification from the perspectives and the existence of four black female artists living and working in South Africa and Nigeria. The artworks explore the basic internal structure of consciousness and other forms of experience by delivering a platform for black women to look more deeply into their reality and, from that sharing in growing consciousness, a consciousness not only for themselves but the viewers as well.

Drawing from the inspiration and groundbreaking work of Barbara Smith, a black feminist luminary and other Black feminist visionaries of the Combahee River Collective such as Beverly Smith, Demita Frazer, Cheryl Clarke, Akasha Hull, Margo Okazawa-Rey, Chirlane McCray, and Audre Lorde, this exhibition reiterates their famous slogan, “Until Black Women Are Free, None of Us Will Be Free”. This comes from their far-sighted understanding that if Black women were free, it would mean that everyone else would be free since the freedom of black women will necessitate the destruction of all systems of oppression, from political-economic systems of capitalism and imperialism as well as the patriarchy.

View Catalogue of Phenomenology of A Black Woman