Jody Brand
Exhibition catalogue
Being there : South Africa, a contemporary scene
Fondation Louis Vuitton & Dilecta, Paris, 2017
It is my mission to challenge present representations of minorities.1
Born In Cape Town In 1989
Jody Brand lives and works in Cape Town. After studying at the University of Cape Town, she graduated from the Market Photo Workshop in 2012, then was artist Athi-Patra Ruga’s assistant until 2014. Interested in new media at an early age and a photographer first and foremost, she documents the lives of the multicultural youth of Cape Town. “As a child I was fascinated by history and how it has shaped society. [...] I feel it is of great importance to document my history and that of the people around me.”
Her first series of photographs, Chomma was dedicated to her family and friends, of whom she archived images online on Tumblr. She now focuses on “invisible” gures, the “voiceless” who are still subject to violence. She is particularly involved in the representa- tion of cultural minorities and seeks to give them a new visibility.
In Say her Name a series of large-format photographs, she creates a universe that sublimates the bodies of black women and queers. Setting herself apart from stereotypes, she creates gures posing in interiors or exteriors typically associated with colonialism – their clothes and poses referring to a world from which they were excluded and which they appropriate outrageously. These photographs form the body as a place of resistance and emancipation. The title of the series, chosen in reference to the hashtag created to make people aware of violence against women, becomes a rallying sign here.
1. “89plus. Jody Brand,” conversation of the artist with
Missla Libsekal, Another Africa, 23 February 2014 [http://www.anotherafrica.net/art-culture/89plus-jody-brand]. 2. Id. 3. #SayHerName.