Somnyama II, Oslo

2015
(South African, b. 1972)
Image: 49.5 x 43.2 cm (19 1/2 x 17 in.); Framed: 52.2 x 45.2 x 4.4 cm (20 9/16 x 17 13/16 x 1 3/4 in.)
© Zanele Muholi. Courtesy of the artist, Yancey Richardson Gallery, and Stevenson Cape Town / Johannesburg
This artwork is known to be under copyright.
Location: not on view

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Did You Know?

This self-portrait is from a series called Hail the Dark Lioness.

Description

Zanele Muholi’s bold, self-possessed stare and high piles of tresses suggest the power of 17th-century French kings and of kings of the jungle, but white and gold are replaced by dark tones. “By exaggerating the darkness of my skin tone,” says Muholi, “I'm reclaiming my blackness, which I feel is continuously performed by the privileged other.”
Somnyama II, Oslo

Somnyama II, Oslo

2015

Zanele Muholi

(South African, b. 1972)
South African

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