I’ve been thinking about this kid since late summer, when I saw him skateboarding down the middle of Foothill, near Fremont High School. He looked so relaxed and free; and, given the unpredictable traffic on Foothill, he had to be pretty brave, too.
Ajuan Mance
You gotta give props to the brother wearing the afro puff, especially the brother with an afro puff, arched eyebrows and a shimmering lip tint. This guy doesn’t need a scowl and a posse to let the world know he’s an independent man. All the neck tattoos in the world don’t say as much about fierceness and courage as a brother who isn’t afraid of a trip to Sephora, and not just to buy a gift for his girlfriend…
Ajuan Mance
I was out shopping for Valentine’s day, and I ran into this guy at a gift shop on Piedmont Ave. He was dressed in an unseasonably skimpy top, but the detail that truly caught my attention was his sailor stripes! I have been obsessed with Gaultier since I saw the designer’s retrospective at the De Young Museum, and Gaultier is obsessed with (or at least heavily influenced by) Jean Genet. In honor of Gaultier’s obsessions and my own, I created my own unique design, the Jean Genet sailor shirt, with a classic photo of the iconic French writer showing through the stripes on this gentleman’s shirt. The background is an excerpt from Journal du voleur (Thief’s Journal), the author’s most famous book.
For another homage to Gaultier and the French sailor shirt, follow this link to 1001 Black Men–#468.
Ajuan Mance
This is the second of two drawings I created to celebrate reaching the midpoint of this project. I create at least one new drawing every day, based on the African American men I’ve encountered around Oakland and other Bay Area cities. When I travel to other cities, I draw the African American men I see there. I don’t draw from models. Instead, when I get home in the evening, or when I have a quiet moment between classes or appointments (which is not all that often), I think back to the people I encountered that day and I draw the men who really stood out in my mind. Part of the benefit of drawing from memory (a preference shared by Love and Rockets co-creator Jamie Hernandez, by the way) is that it has enabled me to really focus on and consider the limits of my own gaze on the Black male subject. It’s been edifying, as I have shared at various points during the first 500 drawings.
Many people have asked me why I’ve chosen to do 1001 drawings. More interesting than the reasons why I have chosen this number of drawings are the benefits of doing such a large volume of drawings on the same subject. The greatest benefit is that it has given me a chance to understand the limits of my own vision. This takes time and, in some very real ways, it took me around 300 drawings to figure out exactly how it was that see Black men. Over the course of my most recent 200 drawings, I’ve been working on understanding the different ways I can use the particularity of my gaze to challenge and expand my own and (by extrapolation) others’ conceptions of the Black male subject.
More later,
Ajuan Mance
My original goal for this art project was to complete 1001 drawings of Black men in 1001 days. Today, I finally reached the halfway point. My goal is to complete the project by the end of December 2013.
For drawings #500 and #501, I’ve created images that speak to my goal of depict the diversity of the Black men, with a particular interest in depicting those African American demographics who popular media representations of tend to overlook.
It’s been a real pleasure creating these images, and I’ve learned a lot from the process. I have some ideas about where I’d like to go with my second 500 drawings, and I’ll speak about that more in the coming days.
For now, though, I thank you for looking at my site and I hope you’ll return again and again. I’ll be posting several new drawings each week and I welcome your feedback and suggestions.
Ajuan Mance
The lobby of the Hotel Abrego, Monterey, CA.
Ajuan Mance
Here’s a drawing of a guy I saw outside the Fruitvale Avenue Farmer Joe’s Market. I, of course, loved his suit. Who doesn’t love the khaki two-button suit? With the burgundy vest and the repp stripe tie, he epitomized Black 21st-century prep. That his pose is a variation on Iggy Pop’s pose from the cover of his album The Idiot makes for a fun contrast.
Ajuan Mance
Safeway, Fruitvale Ave, Oakland, CA.
Ajuan Mance
Last Thursday, this guy and a female companion was at the next table at Zócalo Cafe. I was trying hard not to listen to his conversation. I had a lot of proofreading and writing to do, and I left my noise canceling headphones at home. Consequently, I heard snippets of their chat about the history of Oakland and San Leandro. I don’t really know what the thread of the conversation was about, because I was intermittently successful at blocking them out, but I heard enough to want to use a vintage map of Oakland as the table top in this drawing.
Ajuan Mance
Due to our unseasonably warm weather, people have been sporting summer-weight clothes all over the Bay Area. Even down in Monterey, where I spent my last weekend, there was a group of teens dressed in shorts (for the guys) and sundresses (for the women). I, on the other hand, was wearing a t-shirt, a button-down shirt, and a v-neck sweater … and I was still cold. Back here in Oakland, where I arrived just before sundown, young brothers were still hanging out in their over-sized white t-shirts. An hour later, they were probably pulling on hoodies and such, but 60 or so degrees in the Bay Area and the Central Coast means summer for many Californians.
I am actually from a part of the country that gets really cold and, ironically enough, I’ve been freezing all month.
Ajuan Mance