Zanele Muholi - Photographs New York Tuesday, April 4, 2023 | Phillips

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  • For over a decade, South African photographer Zanele Muholi’s portraits of black lesbian and transgender individuals have powerfully confronted a cultural history of violence and discrimination against the LGBTQIA community. In their ongoing series, Somnyama Ngonyama (Hail the Dark Lioness), Muholi becomes their own subject by transforming into a variety of characters that reference the politics of identity and the compounded suppression experienced as a result of both racism and homophobia. By exaggerating the darkness of their skin tone, Muholi presents an alternative visual history that celebrates the beauty of black skin within the visual lexicon of classical painting and fashion photography.

    • Provenance

      Yancey Richardson Gallery, New York

    • Literature

      Allen and Nakamori, Zanele Muholi, p. 149

65

Buhlalu I, The Decks, Cape Town

2019
Gelatin silver print.
27 1/8 x 19 3/4 in. (68.9 x 50.2 cm)
Signed in ink, printed title, date, and number 6/8 on a gallery label affixed to the reverse of the flush-mount.

Full Cataloguing

Estimate
$15,000 - 20,000 

Sold for $31,750

Contact Specialist

Sarah Krueger
Head of Department, Photographs
skrueger@phillips.com


Vanessa Hallett
Worldwide Head of Photographs and Chairwoman, Americas
vhallett@phillips.com

Photographs

New York Auction 4 April 2023