Simphiwe Buthelezi was born in 1996 in Benoni, South Africa, and currently lives and works in Cape Town, South Africa. In 2016, Simphiwe Buthelezi participated in a peer mentoring programme hosted by Assemblage Studios which launched her development as a young artist. She received her National Diploma in Fine Art at the University of Johannesburg in 2017, and she is the recipient of the 2018 Blessing Ngobeni Art Prize, culminating in a residency at The Bag Factory Artist Studios.

In 2023, Buthelezi presented a solo booth at the Investec Cape Town Art Fair, as part of the Solo Section. Buthelezi presented her first solo exhibition, ‘Lala La’, curated by Chumisa Ndakisa, at The Bag Factory Studios in Johannesburg in 2019, as well as a solo exhibition at SMAC in Stellenbosch, South Africa, titled Imvuselelo Yenkululeko / Freedom’s Domain, in 2020.

Buthelezi has exhibited her work extensively within group shows. She recently showed her work the RMB Latitudes Art Fair, in Shepstone Gardens, Johannesburg, in 2023; at MiArt Fair in Milan and the Investec Cape Town Art Fair, in 2022; and in 2021, in an online art fair entitled The Armory Show, all with SMAC Gallery.

In 2020, Buthelezi participated in two group exhibitions: Shaping Things: An exploration of clay and ceramics in contemporary South African art practice, at SMAC Gallery in Stellenbosch; and A Show of Solidarity, at SMAC Gallery in Cape Town. Group exhibitions in 2019 include: Young Congo Biennale in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC); The Female Line at SMAC Gallery in Cape Town; Preview#3 in Milan, Italy; tête-à-tête, curated by Candice Allison and Tiina Liebenberg at the Absa Gallery in Johannesburg; Self at Glen Carlou Gallery in Stellenbosch; Art Market Budapest with Johannesburg Art Gallery in Budapest, Hungary; and What is South Africa, Even? Vol.2, curated by Carlyn Strydom at the Bag Factory Artist Studios in Johannesburg. Further group exhibitions include NOW, curated by AyshaWaja at St Teresa’s Art Festival at the Keyes Art Mile, Johannesburg; a flood in my hands at Fried Gallery in Pretoria, South Africa; and Ukuma, The Weight of the Wait, curated by Phumzile Twala and Marguerite Visser at Assemblage Project Space in Johannesburg (all in 2018); Atomic Peace, curated by Chumisa Ndakisa, at The Bag Factory Artist Studios in Johannesburg, and Capturing State, at the Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees (KKNK) in Oudtshoorn, South Africa, both in 2017.

In 2023, Buthelezi will participate in Paris+ par Art Basel in the GaleriesÉmergentes sector, with a solo presentation at the Grand Palais Éphémère, inParis, France. In 2024, she is set to present a solo exhibition with the UJ Art Gallery, at the University of Johannesburg, in Johannesburg, South Africa