Zadie Xa was born in Vancouver, Canada on unceded, ancestral and continually asserted territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) First Nations and is now based in London, UK. Her practice focuses on familial legacies, interspecies communication and diasporic worlding. Throughout her practice, Xa uses water and marine ecologies as metaphors for exploring the unknown whilst also alluding to abstract notions of homeland.
Xa’s practice is highly collaborative, and she has developed ongoing exchanges with dancers, and musicians. Since 2006, Xa has worked closely with artist Benito Mayor Vallejo. Together they have staged live performance, moving image and installations. Zadie earned an MA in Painting at the Royal College of Art in 2014 and a BFA at the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design in 2007.
Current:
House Gods, Animal Guides and Five Ways 2 Forgiveness, Whitechapel Gallery London UK (solo) A Beautiful Repair, Copenhagen Contemporary
The New Bend, curated by Legacy Russell, Hauser and Wirth Somerset UK
Upcoming: TBA
Ongoing:
Word for Water is Whale, “Ways of Knowing: Imagining Other Futures” curated by Jane Scarth, Whitechapel Gallery (online)
Moon Poetics 4 Courageous Earth Critters and Dangerous Day Dreamers 2020 for Assembly 2020 Somerset House Studios (online)
A Sojourn Through Saturn and Across the Southern Sea, commissioned sound work by Stella Bottai and Lucia Pietroiusti for Cold Protein Podcast (online)
Previous Solo Exhibitions:
Long ago when tigers smoked, curated by Nicoletta Lambertucci, The Box, Plymouth UK, 2022
Moon Poetics 4 Courageous Earth Critters and Dangerous Day Dreamers, Leeds Art Gallery, UK, 2021
Moon Poetics 4 Courageous Earth Critters and Dangerous Day Dreamers, curated by Rose Bouthiller, Remai Modern, Saskatoon Canada, 2020
Child Of Magohalmi and the Echos of Creation: De La Warr Pavillion, Bexhill-on-Sea UK, 2019
Child Of Magohalmi and the Echoes of Creation, Tramway, Glasgow SCT. 2019
Child Of Magohalmi and the Echoes of Creation, Yarat Contemporary Art Space, Baku AZ, 2019
Soju Sipping on a Sojourn to Saturn, Galeria Agustina Ferreyra, Mexico DF, 2018
HOMEBOY 3030: Return the Tiger 2 the Mountain, Union Pacific, London, UK, 2018
The Conch, Sea Urchin and Brass Bell, organised by PS/Y for Hysteria 2017, Pump House Gallery, London UK, 2017
Performance:
Scorpion, in collaboration with Benito Mayor Vallejo, curated by Priyesh Mistry, National Gallery London, 2021
Dream Dangerous, live performance in collaboration with Benito Mayor Vallejo, Jia-Yu Corti and Ophelia Liu. Presented with Galeria Agustina Ferreyra, Frieze Live 2020: The Institute of Melodic Healing curated by Victor Wang
Grandmother Mago, live performance, AGO Toronto, January 2020
Child of Magohalmi and the Echoes of Creation, Dance International Glasgow, Tramway Glasgow, 2019
Art Night 2019 curated by Helen Nisbet, co commissioned by Yarat Contemporary Art Space, Baku AZ, Tramway, Glasgow SCT and De La Warr Pavillion, Bexhill on Sea UK, Walthamstow Library London UK
Venice Biennial “Meetings on Art” performance program curated by Ralph Rugoff with Aaron Cezar and produced by Delfina Foundation, 2019
Flooded with ICE/Hellfire Can't Scorch Me, commissioned by Hayward Gallery, Southbank Center, 2018
Iridezcent Interludez, “Do Disturb 2018”, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, 2018
Perfumed Purple Rice and Sateen Songs for Sadie, “Guest, Ghost, Host: Machine!” Serpentine Marathon 2017
The Sea Child, “Rehearsals from the Korean Avant-Garde Performance Archive”, Korean Cultural Centre UK, 2017
Crash Boom Hisssssss. Legend of the Liquid Sword, Block Universe 2017, Somerset House Studios, 2017
Basic Instructions B4 Leaving, organised by PS/Y for Hysteria 2017, Cafe OTO, 2016
Linguistic Legacies and Lunar Exploration, Serpentine Gallery, London UK, 2016
Recent Selected Group Exhibitions: Myths of Our Time, with Heemin Chung and Sun Woo, Thaddaeus Ropac Seoul 2023 Flowing Moon, Embracing Land, Jeju Biennale 2022
The Horror Show, co-curated by Claire Catterall with Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard, Somerset House Studios, London UK 2022 The New Bend, curated by Legacy Russell at Hauser and Wirth in LA 2022
Soy Dreams of Milk, Blindspot gallery, Hong Kong 2022
House Spirits with Hernan Bas, Jessica Silverman, San Fransisco 2022
The Condition of Being Addressable, curated by Legacy Russell and Marcelle Jospeh, ICA LA 2022
Wonder Women, Deitch Projects, NYC and LA 2022
Lee Scratch Perry The Orbzerver, with works by Rashiyah Elanga, Invernomuto, Ishion Hutchinson, Rammellzee, Zadie Xa, Museo MACRO, Rome, IT 2022
The New Bend, curated by Legacy Russell, Hauser and Wirth, NYC, 2022
Painting in Person, curated by Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev and Marcella Beccaria, Castillo di Rivoli, 2021
Sweat, curated by Anna Schneider, Raphael Fonseca, Haus Der Kunst, DE, 2021
Wishbone Vision, Anthea Hamilton, Sofia Al Maria and Zadie Xa with Benito Mayor Vallejo, Project Native Informant, London UK, 2021
Interior Infinite, The Polygon Gallery, North Vancouver, Canada, 2021
Diaspora Pavilion 2, curated by ICF, Campbelltown Arts Centre, NSW Australia, 2021
Bodies of Water, 13th Shanghai Biennale 2021, curated by Andrés Jaque, You Mi, Marina Otero Verzier, Lucia Pietroiusti, and Filipa Ramos
Siembra, Kurimanzutto Mexico City, presented by Galeria Agustina Ferreyra, 2020
Feedback Loops, curated by Miriam Kelly, ACCA, Melbourne AUS, 2019
STILL I RISE: FEMINISMS, GENDER, RESISTANCE, ACT 3, Arnolfini, Bristol UK, 2019
STILL I RISE: FEMINISMS, GENDER, RESISTANCE, ACT 2, De La Warr Pavillion, UK, 2019
Body Armor, curated by Jocelyn Miller, MoMA PS1, 2018
Blessed Be: Spirituality, Mysticism, and the Occult in Contemporary Art, MOCA Tuscon 2018