Press Play - Swimmers

Mercy Thokozane Minah explores intimacy and its numerous forms in queer Black life. In Press Play, the self-taught South African artist pays homage to the intimacy of sport as a leisurely and rigorous cultural currency that connects people from all walks of life, emphasizing how it fortifies Black queer and trans communities. The 20-piece collection of digital paintings - some combined with photographed skies - is a study of Black queer bodies in motion. Press Play posits how they interact with environments dedicated to play, what their relationship is to competition, how they orient themselves towards winning as well as the catharsis and pleasure of leisure.