With a practice that centers on performance but includes photography, video, and installation, Tracey Rose explores cultural stereotypes imposed on Africans, women, and African women. Rose’s body is usually at the center of her art, which often recalls the work of Cindy Sherman in format and content. Ciao Bella (2001), the piece with which she represented South Africa at the 2001 Venice Biennale, combines photographs of Rose disguised as various feminine archetypes (including Lolita and a nun) with a video of similarly feminine characters (including a mermaid and Marie Antoinette) playing out an absurd, chaotic narrative. Other works make biting statements about sexuality and femininity—for the 1998 work Ongetiteld (Untitled), she shaved her entire body and recorded the act using surveillance cameras.

South African, b. 1974, Durban, South Africa, based in Johannesburg, South Africa

Source: artsy.net