Skip to main content

This auction has ended. View lot details

You may also be interested in

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

Lot 23

Mikhael Subotzky
(South African, born 1981)
Strip Search, Pollsmoor Maximum Security Prison, 2004

2 May 2019, 14:00 EDT
New York

US$5,000 - US$8,000

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

How to sell

Looking for a similar item?

Our African Modern & Contemporary Art specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.

Find your local specialist

Ask about this lot

Mikhael Subotzky (South African, born 1981)

Strip Search, Pollsmoor Maximum Security Prison, 2004
Inkjet print
50 x 75cm (19 11/16 x 29 1/2in).

Footnotes

Exhibited
London, Saatchi Gallery, Pangaea II: New Art from Africa and Latin America, 2015

Literature
Saatchi Gallery, Pangaea II, 2015, p. 151-153


Subotzky has been depicting South African life through the prism of prisons since 2004. Located in the suburb of Tokai in Cape Town, Pollsmoor Maximum Security Prison is one of South Africa's most dangerous, exceeding its maximum capacity. Whilst still a student at the renowned Michaelis School of Fine Art, Cape Town, Subotzky travelled with members of the Elections Commission to documents prisoners at the polling booth. As a result, Subotzky created a number of panoramic images, including 'Strip Search', from as many as eighteen negatives. All of which were exhibited at the prison on Freedom Day, 27 April 2005, in the same cell that once housed Nelson Mandela.

His work is in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, the South African National Gallery, Cape Town and the Johannesburg Art Gallery. Subotzky continues to live and work between Cape Town and Johannesburg.

Bibliography
Okwui Enwezor, Contemporary African Photography from The Walther Collection: Events of the Self: Portraiture and Social Identity, Steidl. Pp 381-382.

Additional information

Bid now on these items

Bertina Lopes(Mozambican, 1924-2012)"Respiro" (Breath)

Bertina Lopes(Mozambican, 1924-2012)"Jazz una forma di musica classica contemporanea che riflette il cosmo prospettico dell'Africa II (da una frase di Harolds Bradley)" (Jazz is a form of contemporary classical music that reflects the cosmos African II perspective (from a phrase by Harold Bradley))

Bertina Lopes(Mozambican, 1924-2012)"Il sole la vita" (The Sun, Life)

Bertina Lopes(Mozambican, 1924-2012)"Ipotese dello continuo" (I'm a fan of the continuous)

Willem Boshoff(South African, born 1951)Neves I & II

Karen Jarosynzka(South African 1934-2014)Quasimodo

Rom Isichei(Nigerian, born 1966)Conversation with my Alter Ego

Anton Karstel(South African, born 1968)Portrait of Ian van Biljoen

Anton Karstel(South African, born 1968)Adderley St

Greg Marinovich(South African, born 1962)

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela(South African, 1918-2013)Left hand

Sophie Mowat(British, born 1988)The Other Bounty

Christine Dixie(South African, born 1966)Hide (To withhold or withdraw from sight)

Glory Samjolly(British, born 1997)Dear Archives

Walter Whall Battiss(South African, 1906-1982)Three Fook Stamps

Alison Turner(British, born 1976)At The Hands Of The Enslaved, Our Society Was Built

Stuart Bird(South African, born 1977)Zuma Biscuits 2 x 5 x 7cm (13/16 x 1 15/16 x 2 3/4in). (each) (4)

Neequaye Dreph Dsane(British, born 1973)Dress Code

Gail Deborah Catlin(South African, born 1948)Female nude

Kione Grandison(British, born 1996)Let Us Not Forget

Norman Clive Catherine(South African, born 1949)Fook Dog

Alvin Kofi(British, born 1961)The Longitude Of Culture

Guy du Toit(South African, born 1958)Little Deaths

Kazvare Knox(Zimbabwean, born 1986)Someone's Been Stealing Our Things