The exhibition seeks to distinguish the contemporary expressions of the Black Dandy phenomenon in popular culture. The first comprehensive exhibition of its kind, this project highlights young men in city landscapes who defy stereotypical and monolithic understandings of Black masculinity by remixing Victorian-era fashion with traditional African sartorial sensibilities. Dandy Lion: (Re) Articulating Black Masculine Identity features images of both emerging and world- renowned photographers and filmmakers from various regions of the African Diaspora, including the U.S., South Africa, the Congo and Western Europe. Juxtaposed against an urban backdrop, the “hip hop” generation’s Black Dandy is noticeably different from the historical minstrel or Harlem Renaissance queer prototype. The 21st century Black Dandy’s sartorial choices are an expression of the African aesthetic rather than an imitation of European high-brow society. Using their self- fashioned bodies as sites of resistance, contemporary Black dandies are complicating modern narratives of what it means to be Black, masculine and fashionable today.

Hanif Abur-Rahim - Jody Ake - Kia Chenelle - Laylah Amatullah Barrayn - Bouba Dola - Delphine Adama Fawundu - Rose Callahan - Russell K. Frederick - Cassi Amanda Gibson - Allison Janae Hamilton - Akintola Hanif - Harness Hamese - Caroline Kaminju - Charl Landvreugd - Jati Lindsay - Devin Mays - Baudouin Mouanda - Terence Nance - Arteh Odjidja - Numa Perrier - Alexis Peskine - Radcliffe Roye - Sara Shamsavari - Nyugen Smith - Daniele Tamagni - Richard Terborg - Rog Walker -
Curator Shantrelle P. Lewis -