Nkosi was born in 1980 in New York, and raised between Harare and Johannesburg where she now lives. She obtained her BA from Harvard University (2004) and her MFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York (2008).
Nkosi divides her time between studio work, performance and navigating the field of art as social practice. Her first solo exhibition, Gymnasium, takes place at Stevenson Johannesburg.
Group exhibitions include Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From, Aga Khan Museum, Toronto, (2020); That’s What She Said, Constitution Hill, Johannesburg (2019); Lost Lover, Rampa, Porto, Portugal (2019); About Face, Stevenson, Cape Town (2018); NIEPODLEGŁE, Women, Independence and National Discourse, Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw (2018); Five Propositions, Roberts Projects, Los Angeles (2018); Moving Stills - Affective Archives, Mumok Cinema, Vienna (2018); A Painting Today, Stevenson, Johannesburg (2017); Art/Afrique, le nouvel atelier, Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris (2017); Kabbo ka Muwala (The Girl’s Basket), National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Harare (2016); Transforming Provocations, The Flaherty NYC, New York (2016); The Film Will Always Be You, Tate Modern, London (2015); The Johannesburg Pavilion, Venice (2015); A Beautiful Rebellion, DUMBO, New York (2014); Disrupters: This is Disrupter X, Schokofabrik, Bayreuth, Germany (2014); The Space Between Us, Ifa Gallery, Berlin (2013); Spectacular, Frac des Pays de la Loire, Carquefou, France (2013); IF YOU DO IT RIGHT, Honolulu Performance Space, Nantes, France (2013); VAIVEM, SESC Pinheiros, São Paulo (2013); Making Way: Contemporary Art from China and South Africa, Standard Bank Gallery, Johannesburg (2013); Shoe Shop, Goethe-Institut & Shoe Shop Project Space, Johannesburg (2012); Gulbenkian Next Future Program, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon (2011); and (Re)constructions: Contemporary Art in South Africa, Museum of Contemporary Art, Niterói, Rio de Janeiro (2011).
Nkosi has taken part in residencies including the XXVIIes Aterliers Internationaux, FRAC des Pays de la Loire, France (2013); VAIVEM, Sao Paulo, Brazil (2013); Vanilla Facts, Berlin, Germany (2012); Cruces International, Montevideo, Uruguay (2011) and the Bag Factory Artist Residency (2009). Nkosi is the recipient of the Philippe Wamba Prize in African Studies (2004) and the Tollman Award for the Visual Arts (2019).

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