Zanele Muholi (South African, Born 1972) Isililo Xx
Provenance : [Propriété non datée]
- [their] skin as much as the gelatin-silver technology will permit' (Jayawardane, 2018: p. 170)
- The high-contrast hues accentuate the luminosity of the white paint applied to the centre of Muholi's face – a nod to the bodily decoration used in certain southern African communities as a status symbol and sign of community belonging
- The whites of their eyes are similarly heightened through this high-contrast effect, so that '[their] gaze roars through the two dimensions of the photograph' to confront the viewer (Jayawardane, 2018: p. 171)
- The title of the present work, translated from the isiZulu as 'weeping' or 'lamenting', casts the image in a somber tone, recalling the seriousness of Mulholi's project of self-representation
- As the artist states: 'Too often we find ourselves in spaces where we cannot declare our entire being
- We are here; we have our own voices; we have our own lives
- We can't rely on others to represent us adequately[...] Hence I am producing this photographic document to [...] teach people about our history, to rethink what history is all about, to reclaim it for ourselves – to encourage people to use artistic tools such as cameras as weapons to fight back' (quoted in Ngonyama, 2018: p. 177)
- Zanele Muholi's work has been exhibited widely in international contexts
- Their photographs are held in prominent collections including the Solomon R
- Guggenheim Museum, New York, Tate, London, and the Art Institute of Chicago
- Amongst numerous accolades, Muholi was shortlisted for the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize in 2015 and was awarded an honorary fellowship by the Royal Photographic Society in 2018
- In 2020 to 2021, the Tate Modern, London, staged the most comprehensive retrospective of Muholi's work to date, demonstrating the power and breadth of their photographic practice
- Neelika Jayawardane, 'Heeding the Dark Lioness's Call', in Zanele Muholi: Hail the Dark Lioness, ed., Somnyama Ngonyama (New York, Aperture, 2018)
Exhibited :
Literature :
Notes :
Condition_report :
