Somnyama II, Oslo

2015

Somnyama II, Oslo, 2015. Zanele Muholi (South African, b. 1972). Gelatin silver print; 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.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Dudley P. Allen Fund 2016.40 © Zanele Muholi. Courtesy of the artist, Yancey Richardson Gallery, and Stevenson Cape Town / Johannesburg 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.” This self-portrait is from a series called Hail the Dark Lioness.