In the eye of the stormNow opening at the UCLA Armand Hammer Museum, ‘Black Male: Representations of

In the eye of the stormNow opening at the UCLA Armand Hammer
Museum, ‘Black Male: Representations of Masculinity’ has been
caught up in controversy ever since its New York run at the
Whitney.

By Barbara E. Hernandez

Daily Bruin Staff

The Museum of Contemporary Art declined to take it on.

Critics have opened up a "response" show in various L.A. art
centers to challenge it.

The exhibit in question, "Black Male: Representations of
Masculinity in Contemporary American Art" will open today at the
UCLA Armand Hammer, after months of controversy since the show
first opened at the Whitney Museum in New York last year.

The exhibit, which includes over 80 pieces of media depicting
African- American males, from video to installations, seems both
illuminating and somewhat conventional. Most audiences with little
art experience or history may find it hard to figure out the
controversy surrounding the exhibit.

"(In New York and Los Angeles) a lot of the audience was upset
by the stereotypes," says Hammer Director Henry Hopkins. "Being a
university museum, we can dialogue, have open discussion and create
a good environment."

The exhibit runs through positive, negative and human aspects of
black masculinity, something curator Thelma Golden has had
difficulty explaining to the press.

"It was very popular in New York," Golden says of the exhibit,
where people waited as long as three hours to get in the doors. "We
had a huge amount of press, positive and negative. It was just the
way the exhibit created a zeitgeist of its own."

Zeitgeist it was, splitting apart "cultural elite" Los Angeles
in a pre-exhibit party. Many of the guests, uncomfortable with the
sexualized, demonized and often angry images of black men, withdrew
their support. Other critics claimed that the exhibit did not
contain enough works by African-American artists.

But despite Golden’s heated and somewhat disparaging words in
last Sunday’s Los Angeles Times for the somewhat negative reception
of the exhibit by some of L.A.’s cultural community, the Armand
Hammer is more than happy to house the exhibit and has no
reluctance in discussing the controversy.

"The issue (of controversy) was opened in New York," says
Hopkins. "It was a major issue of concern for the African-American
community, despite the images being black males done by black
males, curated by an African-American woman."

Working on the show for the past three years, Golden found it
disheartening to find her work judged and dismissed as
inappropriate or negative.

"It’s this notion of what’s in the show, how it should be made,
who should have been in the show," she says of her critics. "When
we presented the show to the Hammer, they took it. They were
interested in getting involved."

Admiring the Wight Gallery’s previous challenging and
thought-provoking exhibits, Golden believed the Hammer would do
justice to her own.

"By the time we had decided to do ‘Black Male’ on the West
Coast," says Hopkins, "they had already been at the Whitney. There
was a lot of discussion about it, positive and negative. We thought
it correct to show it, and get our own answers instead."

Apparently, the biggest bone of contention was the inclusion of
several Robert Mapplethorpe photos depicting nude black males,
often focusing below the waist. The photos were seen as stereotypes
of African-American hypersexuality, especially when constructed by
a white man. Audiences familiar with the artist will wonder if this
was Mapplethorpe’s aim.

"Just using the name Mapplethorpe stirs up controversy," Hopkins
says with a laugh. "Many people haven’t even seen the pictures.
I’ve found younger generations don’t seem to see the
controversy."

Also included are several pieces exploring black male sexuality,
gay and straight, including Marlon Riggs’ PBS banned "Tongues
Untied." Golden, who clearly states the show’s emphasis on black
masculinity, utilizes homosexual elements in African- American
culture, chronicling Little Richard to present-day RuPaul. Golden
tried to incorporate homosexuality in the exhibit, not kowtowing to
various sources who disliked it.

"The gay male perspective," says Hopkins, "is to show the
complete diversity of the black male."

The exhibit, which combines humor with righteousness, humanity
and sexuality, is nothing new. All of the pieces in the exhibit
have previously been shown, some shown nationwide.

"Certainly when you look at race and gender, they manifest
themselves into a black man," says Golden. "That’s why so many
artists have taken on the topic, for that very same reason."

EXHIBIT: "Black Male: Representations of Masculinity in
Contemporary American Art" now showing at the Armand Hammer Museum
until June 18. TIX: general $4.50, seniors and students $3, UCLA
students with ID $1. Children under 17 are free. Admission is free
Thursday evenings from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. For more info call (310)
443-7000.