Zanele Muholi: The Self and the Body
The Yancey Richardson Gallery in New York City presents “Sawubona,” an exhibition of South African artist and visual activist Zanele Muholi, bringing together five key series that explore Black queer identity through collaborative portraiture.
Zanele Muholi’s work reframes the documentary approach, turning “subjects” into “participants” and addressing trauma and marginalization by centering affirmation, joy, and pride. While their work is widely recognized in the field of contemporary fine art, this marks the first time their early series are shown in a gallery outside the African continent.
© Zanele Muholi “Miss Lesbian II”, Amsterdam, 2009 From the series “Miss Lesbian”
© Zanele Muholi. “Bra”, 2003. From the series “Only Half the Picture”
© Zanele Muholi “Katlego Mashiloane and Nosipho Lavuta”, Ext. 2, Lakeside, Johannesburg.” 2007. From the series “Being”
The series “Being” and “Beulahs” focus respectively on intimate portraits of queer couples and representations of queer masculinity. In South African queer culture, a “beulah” is a gay man of distinguished beauty, and Zanele Muholi’s images emphasize masculinity as fluid and self-defined. In “Miss Lesbian,” the artist critiques beauty standards through self-portraits styled like pageants, exposing gender and success as socially constructed ideals.
© Zanele Muholi. “Charmain Carrol, Parktown Johannesburg”, 2013. From the series “Faces and Phases”
© Zanele Muholi Jabu Radebe, 2006. From the series “Beulahs”
© Zanele Muholi “Zanele Muholi II, Parktown Johannesburg”, 2016 From the series “Faces and Phases”
The exhibition “Sawubona” is on view at Yancey Richardson Gallery in New York City through May 23.
