Zodwa II, Amsterdam
Artist
Zanele Muholi
(South African, born 1972)
Date2015
MediumGelatin silver print
DimensionsImage and sheet: 15 3/4 × 12 1/2 inches (40.01 × 31.75 cm)
Framed: 16 11/16 × 13 9/16 × 1 3/4 inches (42.39 × 34.45 × 4.45 cm)
Framed: 16 11/16 × 13 9/16 × 1 3/4 inches (42.39 × 34.45 × 4.45 cm)
Credit LineGift of the Hall Family Foundation
Object number2017.61.24
SignedSigned in black ink on gallery label.
Inscribednone
Markingsnone
Edition/State/Proofed. 6/8
On View
Not on viewCollections
DescriptionImage of nude woman with long loose dreadlocks lying on her stomach with her legs bent and eyes closed. Light shines on her face and linear shadows scatter across the bedding.Gallery LabelZanele Muholi uses photography to both assert and challenge perceptions about their identity as a black South African lesbian. For this series Somnyama Ngonyama (which translates to “hail the dark lioness”), Muholi serves as their own model and prints their photographs to intensify the darkness of their skin. In this image, Muholi reclines naked on a bed, light streaming onto their face from a nearby window. Their eyes closed, Muholi turns away from the viewer, disengaged from our gaze. Instead, Muholi appears occupied by a private, psychological, and emotional form of longing.
Hall Family Foundation, Kansas City, MO, 2017;
Given by the Hall Family Foundation to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2017.
Given by the Hall Family Foundation to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2017.
Copyright© Zanele Muholi
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