This Exhibition Was Made Possible by... (A Note on Black Male: Representations of Masculinity in Contemporary American Art)

THIS EXHIBITION WAS MADE POSSIBLE BY... Donald Odita The question of black male identity in America is timely in story and terrifying in scope. The constant bombardment of unlawful incidents and doomsday data that spotlights the black male only fuels the fire of debate that surrounds this "public enemy." The "Black Male" show at the Whitney Museum of American Art attempted to cover a range of issues that bear on contemporary representations of black male masculinity in America. The exhibition looked at this figure as he is looked at by the public at large: as entertainer, as athlete and as public enemy. It is clear that black male identity needs to be realized separately from the codes that have previously formed representations of him. But how? Was the "black male" allowed his own voice, or are we hearing the same old ventriloquism? The question I have to ask is how does the black male represent himself outside his "otherness" in historical representation and in America as an object of white fear and white desire? The most positive thing about the Black Male show was that it actually happened. Timeliness notwithstanding, a show as ambitious and as provocative as this one came with many disappointments . However, it stands as a testament to the strength of its curator, Thelma Golden, who got the show up and running. On view from November 10,1994, and into the new year through Black History Month until March 5, 1995, the exhibition included over 70 artworks in the mediums of painting, photography, mixed media work, film and video from 29 artist (21 were male, 3 were white; one of the three was female) of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Barkley L. Hendricks, Ge or ge JulesTaylor, 1972 (Acrylic on canvas- 91.5" x 60.25"). Collection National Gallery of Art. Courtesy of the Whitney Museum of American Art. of Contemporary African A r t ' Spring/Summer 1995 ( A NOTE ON BLACK MALE : REPRESENTATIONS OF MASCULINITY IN CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN ART Of the many disappointments that surrounded the Black Male exhibition, the most troubling for me was the lack of serious commentary from the many different camps of writers and critics in the art world on the nature of the representation of the black male as seen through the art in this exhibition. Maybe it is not politically correct for some of these more prominent, mainstream writers to discuss these issues, but I have yet to see something written by one of these art figures that reads with some knowledge of the African American experience and an understanding of the effects that a show like this one will have on its various viewers' particularly the African American community. The show established its theme on the colors of the Black Nationalist Flag—red, black, and green. The flag was created in the 1960s as a representation of the different stages of the black struggle for liberation in America. The red represents the blood spent and spilled, the black is representative of the people themselves , and the green symbolizes territory, ancestry and growth. The "red" section of the show consists of work that "challenges and transforms negative stereotypes" with imagery that depicts the violence of racism and the struggle for racial equality. The black section is more literal as well as metaphorical in its depiction of the black male body and psyche. This is seen through the various fetishizations of the black male body which is "psychologically and sexually charged as an object of desire and fear." The green symbolizes growth in the possibilities of meaning for the black male and a "...search for the dignified images that combat Lyle Ashton Harris, Constructs # I I, 1989 (Gelatin-silver print). Collection of the artist. Courtesy of JackTilton Gallery. Journal of Contemporary African Art • Spring/Summer 1995 the mass media's representation of the black male...." Except for a few pieces that I will mention later, I feel this show as a whole did very little to truly challenge the black male as an recurrent icon in the collective white nightmare. Aesthetically speaking, this show was figurative and literal in its representation of the black male. It avoided a whole school of...