COURTESY BROOKLYN MUSEUM, NEW YORK
Today’s show: “Zanele Muholi: Isibonelo/Evidence” is on view at Brooklyn Museum in New York until Sunday, November 8. This solo exhibition, the largest ever dedicated to the South African artist and activist in the United States, presents two of her most important series, “Faces and Phases” and “Weddings,” among others, which capture people in the LGBTQ community of South Africa and the celebration of their love, respectively.
Hank Willis Thomas writes:
Zanele’s work is a testament to James Baldwin’s proclamation: “A person is more important than anything else…and that’s the bottom line.”
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Zanele Muholi, 'Faces and Phases,' 2006–present, installed at dOCUMENTA (13), Kassel, Germany, 2012.
©ANDERS SUNE BERG
Zanele Muholi, Lithakazi Nomngcongo, Vredehoek, Cape Town, 2012, 2012, gelatin silver photograph.
©ZANELE MUHOLI/COURTESY STEVENSON, CAPE TOWN AND JOHANNESBURG, AND YANCEY RICHARDSON, NEW YORK
Zanele Muholi, Collen Mfazwe, August House, Johannesburg, 2012, 2012, gelatin silver photograph.
©ZANELE MUHOLI/COURTESY STEVENSON, CAPE TOWN AND JOHANNESBURG, AND YANCEY RICHARDSON, NEW YORK
Zanele Muholi, Xana Nyilenda, Los Angeles, 2013, 2013, gelatin silver photograph.
©ZANELE MUHOLI/COURTESY STEVENSON, CAPE TOWN AND JOHANNESBURG, AND YANCEY RICHARDSON, NEW YORK
Zanele Muholi, Ayanda Mqakayi, Nyanga East, Cape Town, 2011, 2011, gelatin silver photograph.
©ZANELE MUHOLI/COURTESY STEVENSON, CAPE TOWN AND JOHANNESBURG, AND YANCEY RICHARDSON, NEW YORK
Zanele Muholi, 'Isibonelo/Evidence,' 2015, installation view.
JONATHAN DORADO/COURTESY BROOKLYN MUSEUM, NEW YORK
Zanele Muholi, 'Isibonelo/Evidence,' 2015, installation view.
JONATHAN DORADO/COURTESY BROOKLYN MUSEUM, NEW YORK
Zanele Muholi, 'Isibonelo/Evidence,' 2015, installation view.
COURTESY BROOKLYN MUSEUM, NEW YORK
Zanele Muholi, 'Isibonelo/Evidence,' 2015, installation view.
COURTESY BROOKLYN MUSEUM, NEW YORK
Zanele Muholi, Abakhaphi at Promise & Gift's wedding II. Daveyton, 2013, 2013. chromogenic photograph.
©ZANELE MUHOLI/COURTESY STEVENSON, CAPE TOWN AND JOHANNESBURG, AND YANCEY RICHARDSON, NEW YORK
Zanele Muholi, Ayanda & Nhlanhla Moremi's wedding I. Kwanele Park, Katlehong, 9 November 2013, 2013, chromogenic photograph.
©ZANELE MUHOLI/COURTESY STEVENSON, CAPE TOWN AND JOHANNESBURG, AND YANCEY RICHARDSON, NEW YORK
Zanele Muholi, Ayanda & Nhlanhla Moremi’s wedding III. Kwanele South, Katlehong, 9 November 2013, 2013, chromogenic photograph.
©ZANELE MUHOLI/COURTESY STEVENSON, CAPE TOWN AND JOHANNESBURG, AND YANCEY RICHARDSON, NEW YORK