Zanele Muholi
Isibonelo/Evidence
Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, Brooklyn Museum [link]
May 1 – November 1, 2015
The power of Zanele Muholi’s portraits is in the gaze of the South African lesbians and transgender men commanding the viewer’s attention from the frame. Installed in a grid, the wall of images gives a triumphant voice to people who face social stigma and vehement, homophobic backlash. Isibonelo also includes intimate images of weddings and funerals and Being Scene, a blurred, prosaic video of lesbian couples making love that does not pack the demonstrative, thought provoking punch of the photographs. That said, Muholi’s commitment to her craft and her community, anticipate this “Call me Caitlyn” transgender time with moving authenticity.
