Skip to profile content
Discovery
Log In
All Artists

Zanele Muholi

South African

b. 1972

Works

Filters

Category
Select categories
Size
0 in 120 in
Reset
Orientation
Portrait Landscape Square
Clear Filters
  1. Ntozakhe II, Parktown, from the Somnyama Ngonyama series by Zanele Muholi, Image 2.

    Zanele Muholi

    Ntozakhe II, Parktown, from the Somnyama Ngonyama series, 2016

    Photography

    119.5 x 85.75 in (303.53 x 217.81 cm)

South African photographer. Muholi studied Advanced Photography at the Market Photo Workshop in Newtown, Johannesburg, and in 2009 completed an MFA in Documentary Media at Ryerson University, Toronto. They won numerous awards, including the ICP Infinity Award for Documentary and Photojournalism (2016); AFRICA’SOUT! Courage and Creativity Award (2016); and the Outstanding International Alumni Award from Ryerson University (2016); among others. Muholi’s work has been exhibited at Documenta 13; the South African Pavilion at the 55th Venice Biennale; and the 29th Bienal de São Paulo. Solo exhibitions have taken place at such institutions as the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Brooklyn Museum, New York; Schwules Museum, Berlin; and Casa Africa, Las Palmas; and their work is included in the collections of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts; the Carnegie Museum of Art; the Guggenheim Museum; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Tate Modern, London; and others. In Muholi’s iconic self-portraits, they challenge the history of anthropological photography that flattens and nullifies Black South African identity. They fight against the systemic violence and silence that Black South African lesbians in particular face, using their work to document and empower Black LGBTQIA individuals and the vital roles they have played in their community.