Category Archives: Ajuan Mance

Ajuan Mance, Art, Black Men, African American, Artist, Black Men, Oakland

1001 Black Men #920

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Last summer, the City of Oakland sponsored the first Oakland Book Festival. When I was invited to participate, I accepted right away. The event was free and it was in the center of downtown Oakland, a great place to spend an afternoon in late spring.

The Oakland Book Festival turned out to be a wonderful event. I had a great time speaking with the other sellers, and I really enjoyed meeting the people who attended the fair. The organizers did a great job of publicizing the event, and the result was a sizable crowd of Bay Area bibliophiles who were eager to spend money.

I was impressed not only by the size of the crowd, but by its diversity. There were a lot of Black people in attendance, both as buyers and sellers, and I was pleased that a number of the Black men in attendance let me take photos of them so that I could include them in the 1001 Black Men series, later on.

The man in this drawing was the first person I photographed. He seemed surprised that I wanted to do his portrait, but he was really quite friendly. I liked his open face and his geeky chic glasses, and I pretty much feel like any Black person at a book event is a potential best friend.

Ajuan Mance

 

Ajuan Mance, Art, Black Men, African American, Artist, Berkeley, Black Boys, Black Men, Young Black Men, Young Men, Zine

1001 Black Men #918

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On the day of the East Bay Alternative Book and Zine Fest, a young Black man who appeared to be about 14 was exiting the library with his mother. Hi mom seemed to be in a hurry, as she quickly made her way out of the venue. To leave the library, they had to pass through the zine fest, and I watched as the young man looked longingly at the brightly adorned and enticing tables of art, homemade zines, and indie comics. She seemed to be very focused on leaving, but I wish she’d let him browse around the fest, for just a few minutes. The work he would have encountered just might have blown his mind; and he might have gone home to begin drawing his own zines and comics. I wish his mom would have let him browse, if only for a few minutes. I would have liked to have shown him some of my 1001 Black Men.

Ajuan Mance

Ajuan Mance, Art, Black Men, African American, Artist, Bearded Men, Beards, Black Men, Brooklyn, New York

1001 Black Men #917

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Brooklyn Museum, Spring 2015:

At the same time as the Kehinde Wiley show,  the Brooklyn Museum was also presenting an exhibition of the notebooks of Jean-Michel Basquiat, in a different gallery.

I spotted this young museum goer at the entrance of the Basquiat show. He carried himself with the poise of Beyoncé Knowles and the self-possession of Maya Angelou.

Even in progressive Brooklyn, his lace top and carefully chosen accessories stood out among even the other LGBTQ Black people at the museum that day; and looking at him made me very aware of all the ways my appearance doesn’t draw the attention of others. As edgy and stylish as I might think I am, the world sees me a just another middle-aged Black woman in a v-neck sweater, perhaps a bit under-accessorized, but otherwise unremarkable.

It may seem strange to commend someone simply for dressing their body as they please; but that is the world in which we live. I admired this young person’s absolute refusal not to be himself.

Ajuan Mance

Ajuan Mance, Art, Black Men, African American, Artist, Bearded Men, Beards, Black Men, Brooklyn, New York

1001 Black Men #911

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At the end of last April, I saw the Kehinde Wiley exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum. Wiley is best known for his portraits of everyday Black men in heroic poses that are often based on old master paintings.

The exhibit was breathtaking, and the experience of walking into the first gallery of the show is something I will never forget. Mad props to the Brooklyn Museum for creating the most moving and dramatic entrance into a show that I have ever encountered. A lot of the paintings in this show were huge–up to 96″ x 72″ and even larger; and they were beautiful, every single one.

As much as I loved the paintings, I loved seeing the Black men at the show even more. Their expressions ranged from amused to rapt to proud, and I wondered what it must have felt like to walk through an entire exhibition of works celebrating their beauty and power.

Several of the drawings in this part of the 1001 Black Men series are the result of me looking at real-life Black men looking at Wiley’s paintings of Black men. The background of each of these drawings evokes the richly patterned backgrounds for which the artist is known.

Ajuan Mance