Candice Breitz's 'Whiteface' at Goodman Gallery interrogates racial ideology through social media performance

Candice Breitz's video work 'Whiteface' features the artist lip-syncing to audio clips while wearing blonde wigs and a white shirt. The sources range from Bill Maher and Tucker Carlson to homemade social media content, including statements like 'It's not a privilege to be white.' Breitz described these as coming from both alt-right figures and 'good whites' who unintentionally perpetuate racism. The work references her earlier 'Ghost Series' (1994–96), where she whited out Black South African women on postcards during apartheid. Now, she 'whites in' the ideological presence of whiteness. At the opening interview, Breitz connected the repetition of white ideology in media to Aristotelian habituation, highlighting lines such as 'I'm not a racist, some of my best friends are Black.' The piece plays on theatrical caricatures like blackface and mime's whiteface, questioning the 'truth' created by social media performativity. 'Whiteface' is on view at Goodman Gallery in Cape Town from March 9 to April 22.