Exhibition Profile: Black is Beautiful
By: Lilly Reed
Photos courtesy of Reynolda House
What is it about museums that captures our eye and beckons our presence? If you were to ask 100 people this question, you might hear 100 different reasons. For me, it typically is to escape. Time spent amongst new pieces or renowned classics allows me to remove concerns about social or academic obligations, while affording a therapeutic and peaceful encounter with art.
However, the current exhibit at Reynolda house goes beautifully beyond escape and welcomes needed insights of the Harlem Renaissance. For our WFU Style readers this is a perfect exhibit that intersects fashion and art from an underexposed historical era.
Black is Beautiful, is an honorific exhibit of Kwame Brathwaite’s photography, featuring Black fashion portraiture photography of the 1950’s-1960’s in New York City. Brathwaite exposes us to different social movements that influenced his work including the African Jazz-Art Society & Studios (AJASS) he co-founded with his Brother Elombe, and the concept of “Think Black, Buy Black” photographing a juxtaposing variety of bustling and mysterious jazz club scenes to Harlem community protests about supporting black-owned stores, influencing beauty standards, all as a catalyst for the Black is Beautiful movement.
Black is Beautiful as the namesake of the exhibit spotlights the naturalism of the fashion and beauty of the Grandassa models, a term derived from the word “Grandassaland” used to describe the African continent, compared to the Mod fashion trends of the time with white model figures such as Twiggy. Black is Beautiful challenges 60’s white fashion stereotypes and promotes recognition and appreciation of African fashion.
The work is not just dynamic, but powerful to create a deeper understanding of black cultural and political movements that allowed for an independent perspective of black beauty in Harlem and throughout the country.
Progressing through the gallery, I first fell for the smaller 6x6 square B&W photographs capturing moments of action and reaction of jazz and protest. But turning a corner, I came face-to-face and enthralled with the series of color portraits. First, the smaller rectangular piece of Abby Lincoln sharing an open-mouthed smile dressed in vibrant teal fabrics jumping off the print. Then, next to her were the showstoppers of the exhibit: four red, blue, orange, and green backgrounds emphasizing the models’ beauty and highlighting their jewelry and fashion as an ode to the movement.
As you visit, consider that in the era prior to and during the Civil Rights Movement, general historical awareness tends to be reflected in a skewed narrative. However, through the cultural and political lens that Brathwaite’s photography conveys, viewers can experience and begin to understand how naturalism in beauty and fashion can help redefine this script on a larger and more honest scale.
Black is Beautiful is open to the public through May 8, 2022. Wake Forest students can visit for free.
