Abstract:
By exploring selected, recent works produced by amongst others Zanele Muholi, Nandipha
Mntambo, Tracey Rose and Leora Farber it is the aim of this essay to trace a possible resurgence
of the real through the depiction of the corporeal in their work. The artists have been selected
because their work provide a fecundity of ‘corporeal realness’ or corpo(real)ity. The exploration
is further layered by inquiring how the resurgence of the real corresponds to the aesthetic
category of the material sublime. The material sublime dates from the nineteenth century as has
been regarded as a sub-theory within the broader classical sublime. It is argued that the material
sublime together with contemporary feminist theorists e.g. Bonnie Mann, Karen Barad, Elizabeth
Wilson and Vicky Kirby, provide a useful lens for re-thinking the engagement between matter
and discourse. It is in particular through the resilient flesh represented in Muholi’s, Mntambo’s
and Farber’s work, that they and their subjects are turned into what can be playfully termed
‘Material Girls’.
