Zimaseka 'Zim' Salusalu, Gugulethu, Cape Town

2011

Zanele Muholi

Associated Names
Zanele Muholi

Artist, South African, born 1972

The image shows a person standing from the upper thigh upwards, slightly angled to the right. They are wearing a dark polo shirt with a collar and a small emblem on the left side of their chest. Their head is slightly tilted forward, and they have a short haircut styled with a striped flat cap. Their gaze is directed towards the camera with a neutral expression. They are also wearing light-colored trousers, with a visible belt and a watch on their left wrist. The background consists of a patterned floral curtain with large flowers and leaves in contrasting tones.
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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    gelatin silver print

  • Credit Line

    Gift of Joshua and Sara Slocum

  • Dimensions

    image: 76.2 × 50.8 cm (30 × 20 in.)
    framed: 88.27 × 62.87 × 4.45 cm (34 3/4 × 24 3/4 × 1 3/4 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2021.111.1

  • Series Title

    Faces and Phases

More About this Artwork

In this black and white photograph, a woman wearing a black dress leans toward an arched mirror set into a wall, so we see the woman twice in this double portrait. We are situated slightly below her so we look up at the woman, who gazes down and to our right. The surface of the wall is smooth but lightly textured, like adobe. Trees reflected in the mirror indicate that this is outdoors. The woman in front of us takes up the left half of the composition. She faces our right in profile and leans to our right, at the far edge of the mirror. Her dark hair is pulled up in ribbon entwined braids. She wears long, chandelier style earrings and her high-necked black dress has puffed, lace sleeves. We see her face straight on in the mirror’s reflection. The woman’s distinctive brows knit together over her rounded nose.

Article:  15 LGBTQ+ Artists to Know

Discover the lives of 15 LGBTQ+ artists and their art, much of which you can see at the National Gallery.

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Zanele Muholi, Cape Town; NGA purchase (through Yancey Richardson Gallery, New York), 2021.

Associated Names

Inscriptions

on verso of frame, signed by artist, lower right in black ink on applied label: Zanele Muholi

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