Nishigandha Sambrani

October 7, 2018
Midterm Essay

Zanele Muholi and Jenny Saville

For centuries today, people have used the medium of art to reach out and
express their thoughts and opinions to the society. I want to point out and
discuss the celebrated artworks of two people – Zanele Muholi and Jenny
Saville who have been active in bringing out changes in how women are
portrayed with the society. Zanele Muholi, a South African photographer and
a visual activist, through her photos she represented black lesbians and gay
identities. Through her photographs, she takes people on a journey to
understand the struggles that these individual black women face. While
Zanele Muholi has represented strong ideas through her photographs, Jenny
Saville, a British contemporary painter, believed in creating paintings that
portrayed the theme of the nude. Her paintings have been understood to be
of the extreme state of women – deformed, obese, brutalized and sexually
ambiguous. Both of these artists, for their work, have received immense
acknowledgment and reactions from different sections of the society. In my
opinion, even though they both had different means of representations, they
strongly address the same subjects in the context of the women. In the
following essay, I will explain and compare their works of art under a
magnifying glass.
When looked at artworks of both these artists, one can understand that
the biggest differentiating factor is the subjects of their art. On one hand, we
have Zanele Muholi who strongly portrays, but is not limited to the
independent and strong lesbian women in order to promote and educate
the younger and future generations. Her main goal was to spread awareness
and impact the younger generation and while doing this she said – “ the
young lesbians now, they are socialites connected by the social media and all
of that.” The one photograph that remained and intrigued me was –
(https://laonline.psu.edu/slideshows/imagefiles/lg/178.jpg)
In this particular photograph, one can observe the two African women lying
next to each other and embracing one another’s presence. They are laying in
dark sheets with a grey cloth wrapped across their waists. After having taken
a closer look at this photo, I feel one can understand the sense of
vulnerability and poise at the same time. The two females can be seen
comfortable around each other vicinity. This closeness and comfort
reflecting from the photo allow us to assume that there is no room for
judgment, guilt or regret. This photo is strong and integral in eliminating the
stereotypes that women are generally wrapped around.
On the other hand of artistry, through the painting of Jenny Saville, we can
view the major switch in the emotions and visual representation in the
realistic nudes. Though there is a major difference from Muholi’s art, the
beauty, the strength, and the message are effectively communicated in a
similar way. When I first looked at the painting, I found them to be
aggressive and rather extreme. But after reading and understand more
about these painting in detail, one can understand the there no rudeness
that is reflecting on an intentional basis. The painting that I found most
interesting is – “Shift
(https://laonline.psu.edu/slideshows/imagefiles/lg/167.jpg)
This painting is charcoal and pastel on paper. It depicts a number of people
laying and wrapped around each other, showing their intimate body parts.
While she painted this, she pointed out that – “I’m not drawing a
hermaphrodite. I’m drawing many bodies together so that the gender
becomes fluid. So, parts of the male body become the female body, and that
becomes really exciting because it almost represents more what we’re like as
humans, rather than these separate sexes.” After having read and related to
the painting, I understood that the meaning is very deep and is trying to
encourage a positive outlook in the society. The artist is trying to bring out to
the audience the approach one should have in an ideal society – without
bias and stereotype amidst gender and this can be done by efforts of both
men and women, rather all humans in general. In addition to this, in one of
her videos, she also states that I wanted to make images that confronted a
viewer, rather than the view be able to contemplate this body," (Arts and
Parts 9:04-9:12). Apart from the above, the painting also promotes the
beauty of embracing one’s identity and body along with the notion of
equality and unity.
Both the artist – Zanele Muholi and Jenny Saville, both capture the ideal
norms of an ideal society in different methods but give the message in an
effective, strong and coherent manner. The painting created by Saville
though considered generally on the sharper edge, both emotionally and
physically, her subjects are bold and the message is hard-hitting. In
comparison, Muholi’s photos are a combination of multiple emotions and
viewpoints. I believe that, it does not matter whose artwork you are looking
at, Muholi’s photos supporting the gay/lesbian community in South Africa or
Saville’s paintings which contradicts the ideal beauty myth, they both reflect
and portray the strong message of beauty and confidence of women in what
they do and is a powerful means to challenge the existing stereotypes circled
around women.
References:

"Jenny Saville." 14 Artworks, Bio & Shows on Artsy. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Oct.
2018. https://www.artsy.net/artist/jenny-saville
Cué, Elena. "Interview With Jenny Saville." The Huffington Post.
TheHuffingtonPost.com, 08 June 2016. Web. 05 Oct. 2018.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elena-cue/interview-with-jenny-
savi_b_10324460.html