Stacey Gillian Abe
B.1990 Based in Kampala, Uganda
Introduction
The concepts behind Stacey Gillian Abe’s artworks highlight specific complex situations. Drawing on early and continuous autobiographical experiences, Abe’s works offer a reassessment of conventional depictions of her as a Black woman by choosing to focus on a suppleness of the mind. These images materialise as created imaginary spaces that induce a surreal mystical feel while probing unsettling past and present narratives of identity, gender, spirituality and cultural mysticism.
Education
2015 Certificate in Cultural Leadership, Arterial Network, Uganda
2014 BA (Hons), Art and Industrial Design, Kyambogo University, Kampala, Uganda
2010 Certificate in Interior Design and Planning, Young Women’s Christian Association, Kampala, Uganda
Solo Exhibitions
2023
Expo Chicago, Unit, Chicago, USA
2022
Shrub-let of Old Ayivu, Unit, London, UK
2021
Platform (online), Unit, London, UK
2018
Cape Town Art Fair, Cape Town, South Africa
2015
Point of Inertia, Nafasi Art Space, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Group Exhibitions
2024
In Praise of Black Errantry, 60th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, curated by Indie A Choudhury, Venice, Italy
2023
1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, Unit, London, UK
Spectrum: On Color & Contemporary Art, Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD), San Francisco, USA
Revival: Digging into Yesterday, Planting Tomorrow, 21c Museum Hotel St. Louis, USA
Like Paradise, Claridge’s ArtSpace curated by Ekow Eshun, London, UK
2022
The Age of Identity: A Feminine Lexicon, digital exhibition curated by the Arts Curating Course at Istituto Marangoni Firenze for the Salvatore Ferragamo Museum, Florence, Italy
In the Round, Unit, London, UK
Empowerment, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Wolfsburg, Germany
2021
The Power of My Hands, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France
Self-Addressed, curated by Kehinde Wiley, Jeffrey Deitch, Los Angeles, USA
Song of Songs, Unit, London, UK
Running – the New Contemporary, Qingdao Art Museum, Qingdao, China
2020
1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, London, UK
Black voices: Friend of my mind, Ross Sutton Gallery, New York, USA
IRL, Unit, London, UK
Aïdah Muluneh: Homebound, A Journey in Photography, Africa Institute, Sharjah, UAE
2019
La Puente – Seat of Honour, Galerien Der Neustadt, Hamburg, Germany
2018
1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, New York, USA
CLOSE, iKauru Contemporary, Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
2017
Being Her(e), Galeria do Banco Económico, Luanda, Angola
2016
Kampala Contemporary, Circle Art Agency, Nairobi, Kenya
Eroticism and intimacy: Faces, places and paths, Underground Art Space, Kampala, Uganda
AtWork Kampala Chapter 03, 12th Dakar Biennale-AtWork and Art Basel, Dakar, Senegal
2015
Insaka Project Exhibition, Livingstone, Zambia
2014
Women without Borders, Institut Français, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo
2013
Something or Nothing, Fas-Fas Gallery, Kampala, Uganda
Age of Innocence, Fas-Fas Gallery, Kampala, Uganda
2012
4th International Fireworks Exhibition, Kabira Country Club, Kampala, Uganda
Black and White Exhibition, Fas-Fas Gallery, Kampala, Uganda
Selected Press
2022
November ‘On the rise in 2022: five female figurative artists you need to know about’, Christie’s
May ‘A Feminine Lexicon, una riflessione artistica sull’identità della donna’, Vanity Fair Italia
2021
December ‘Stacey Gillian Abe reveals personal stories and experiences within her layered paintings’, It’s Nice That
‘Artist Spotlight: Stacey Gillian Abe’, BOOOOOOOM
2020
August ‘Rediscovering play with Kampala’s Afriart Gallery’, Bubblegumclub
June ‘Beauty in the Face of Struggle: Seven African Artists on Their Practice during Lockdown’, TSA Art Magazine
December ‘Africa makes a scene: Best contemporary art fairs of 2020’, Aljazeera
2019
September ‘Kampala’s Women Artists’, Nataal
June ‘Conjuring Our Beings: Stacey Gillian Abe and Immy Mali in Conversational Partnership’, African Arts Magazine
‘Ouganda – Spiritualité et Humanité Vues Par Stacey Gillian Abe’, Black Square
2018
June ‘Learning to be Free: Stacey Gillian Abe’s artistic exploration through vaginal sculptures’, This is Africa
‘Under 30 Creatives’, Forbes Africa
April ‘Two Projects Helping Female Artists in Africa Find Their Voices’, The New York Times
2017
‘Interview’, Art Africa Magazine
2016
October ‘Strength and Vulnerability: Stacey Abe Gillian & Immaculate Mali’, Intense Art Magazine
‘Eroticism and Intimacy: Faces, Places and Paths’, Contemporary &
‘Talented Young African Artists You Should Know’, Africa
‘Seven Hills: The Kampala Art Biennale’, Africanah
August ‘Abe’s sticky situations’, The Independent
2015
October ‘Glass mirrors Stacey Gillian’s triumphs and despair’, SJ Magazine of Contemporary Arts & Culture in East Africa
2014
‘Women without Borders’, Agence D’Information D’Afrique Centrale
‘Abe uses glass to make her art outstanding’, The Daily Monitor
‘Snapshots and summaries from Kampala’s Contemporary Art Festival’, Art South Africa ‘Artists From Uganda’, The Nala Project
Selected Collections
FAMM (Femmes Artistes du Musee de Mougins), Mougins, France
Pizzuti Collection of the Columbus Museum of Art, USA
21c Museum Hotels, Chicago, USA
Vanhaerents Art Collection, Brussels, Belgium
Amoli Foundation, Hong Kong
Elie Khouri Art Foundation, Dubai, UAE
Robyns Collection London, UK
Jiménez-Colón Collection, Ponce, Puerto Rico
Schulting Collection, Wassenaar, Netherlands
ARAK Collection, Doha, Qatar
Foundation Blachere Private Collection, Apt, France
Moleskine Foundation, Milan, Italy
Gusii Institute of Technology, Kisii, Kenya
Weaverbird Sculpture Park, Masaka, Uganda
Kisii University, Kisii, Kenya
W Art Foundation, Hong Kong