ZANELE MUHOLI: Unapologetically strong
Their work not only exudes an unapologetically proud ‘blackness’, but also offers a bold and intimate exploration into black history, cultural identity, sexuality and LGBTQIA+ relationships.
In the work they balance strength and audaciousness with vulnerability- seen through their sensitive depictions of love, as they document intimacy and relationships.
They are uncompromising in their partially semi-autobiographical work, and they maintain their unwavering frankness in this exhibition. Their photography is well crafted and well shot, giving us glimpses into different people and relationships. Using vaseline to smear over the lens narrows our field of vision- allowing us view into privately tender moments between lovers. There is this continued narrowing in on something hidden, allowing that spotlight (which is the artist’s gaze) to illuminate the unseen or the unrecognised. This imagery is upheld throughout, a metaphoric tearing down of sheets to reveal something veiled or shielded and exposing its beauty. The nude portraits aren’t portraits because they’re nude, they’re portraits because they are of people, and contain stories, feeling, and character. The nudity in the exhibition is refreshing to see through an alternate lens- as a diversion from the usual depiction of the female nude in art galleries taken from the male perspective. It is refreshing to view the female form away from the typical male gaze, which relies on the patriarchy treating women’s bodies as a playground.
Their portraits impress the space like sky scrapers. They uphold a strength and power which overwhelms you when you enter the final room, covering almost every inch of the gallery walls. Initial intimidation gives way to relief within the utter beauty in what they are depicting, the beauty of honesty, the beauty of people of colour, the beauty of the LGBTQIA+ community.
This exhibition perhaps is a way of almost reclaiming ‘blackness’ in a culture of whitewashing and media sterilisation. They almost redefine what the word ‘black’ means in reference to ‘black’ people/ dark-skinned people. The way they explore hair and headdress bestow it power, and elevates it beyond ‘something on your head’, it accounts for its history, culture and sources of racial identity. They present ‘blackness’ as something strong and beautiful, something almost transcendent. The timeline of protest brings a sense of journey, a forward progression perhaps, but ultimately an on going struggle in racial and gender injustices. They bring out the humanity in these statistics and stories- forcing identification, and for us to look into the eyes of these people scorned. They recall black history, whilst reminding us of the inevitable and determined force of people of colour that will shape the future. The exhibition’s curation is also prominent- by blacking out the windows, it centres and encloses the space, making it intimate. It ignites that sensation of when you walk out of a cinema. It shifts your perspective to ensure you are entirely immersed in the exhibition space, and then having to adjust to encountering the outside world again when you leave. It also continues this extended metaphor of all encompassing ‘blackness’, almost a ‘black awakening’ taking over the exhibition space.
This exhibition is audacious, formidable and sensitive. One that must be seen in person to be felt.
- Amelia
