Recap of Allure, Desire and the African-American Model!
Wednesday evening, February 23, the Center, in conjunction with the Leslie-Lohman Gay Art Foundation, hosted an event titled “Allure, Desire & the African-American Model.” The program featured photographers Ripp Bowman & JD Dragan, who specialize in capturing images of black men. There was a cocktail hour where guests got to socialize & look at examples of the artists’ work adorning the walls of the Lerner Auditorium. Following that was a panel discussion moderated by Steven Broadway (also known as the artist Boyway), an accomplished artist in his own right from Nepal. 3 models who have posed for the artists were also featured.
The panel discussion was lively as the artists discussed doing this type of work long before Robert Mapplethorpe put images of black men on the map, so to speak. Also discussed were issues of exploitation & the oversexualization of black men. What are the boundaries between art, erotica & pornography? The models spoke about their own motivations for posing, generally exhibitionism, for the money, or some combination thereof. There was much food for thought &, hopefully, this is a dialogue that will be continued at some point.
Enjoy these pictures from the event: