“TEXTURES” of “The New Black Vanguard”: A Glimpse into the Intersection of Artists Musing on Black Hair | by Cleveland Museum of Art | CMA Thinker | Sep, 2022

By Dr. Tameka Ellington, Speaker, Creator, and Cocurator of “TEXTURES: the record and art of Black hair”

People today of African descent have hair that is like no other race of people. It is the number one particular racial identifier, pores and skin tone being the second. Afro or Black hair grows out of the head like a halo and can be molded, braided, twisted, and wrapped into many styles these as people of the West African Fulani tribe or the Mangbetu tribe of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The textural difference of Black hair has been negatively othered as a end result of colonialism and the Atlantic slave trade.

Even with more than 400 several years of struggling by means of racial and hair discrimination and the need to assimilate to society’s dominant attractiveness suggestions, which essential that Black folks straighten their hair, quite a few Black people today have identified methods to enjoy themselves and their hair. During the 1960s and 1970s’ Black Is Stunning movement, all-natural hair was styled in techniques that evoked the awareness of fashion and common lifestyle, leading to hairstyle appropriation amongst non-Blacks, this sort of as singer Barbara Streisand and actress Bo Derek. On the other hand, Black hair discrimination persisted. In the 1980s and 1990s, it was no for a longer period fashionable to dress in natural Black hair models, and they shortly pale away, until eventually their reemergence in the 2000s. Now, Black hair is this sometimes-in and other-occasions-out trendy icon that can be observed in city streets across the globe. Many thanks to the reputation of street use, superior vogue has turn out to be accessible to lousy Blacks. Hence, hairstyles have proceeded to grow to be far more imaginative with the essence of a blend concerning modern and standard flair.

In the Kent State University exhibition that I cocurated with Dr. Joseph Underwood entitled TEXTURES: the record and artwork of Black hair, regular styling methods are obvious in the artifacts, as perfectly as modern day techniques of hairstyling. West African threading, for case in point, is attained by sectioning the hair into modest or substantial packing containers, applying oil and/or pomade, then wrapping each box area with slim wire creating a prolonged department-like object pointing out the head that can be manipulated into any shape the wearer wants. As featured in TEXTURES, Joseph Eze’s Stella Pomade is a great example of classic meeting contemporary style in the impression portraying basic Nigerian hair threading paired with a fashionable Louis Vuitton blazer and ascot. This hairstyle, dating again hundreds of years, was approximately missing. But it has been revived, thanks to creatives these as The New Black Vanguard’s Jamal Nxedlana and his manner-ahead piece entitled Johannesburg, exactly where the model is rocking a green-threaded hairstyle organized into wild spirals!

Braided hairstyles have a prolonged history in the Black society. According to legend, the very first braids ended up carried out on the head of the goddess Isis as she mourned at the nicely thanks to the loss of her spouse. Nearby maidens observed that she was grieving and arrived to ease and comfort her, and in performing so, they braided her hair. The hairstyle referred to as cornrows in the United States, or canerows in the Caribbean, dates again to as early as 550 BC, to historic Nok artifacts depicting guys putting on the conventional hairstyle. Braided from the Roots by Lebohang Motaung, showcased in TEXTURES, characteristics an amazing braided hairstyle that is parted into skinny rows woven tightly to the canvas. The crown of the illustrated head is structured into a braided cone condition, quite reminiscent of common Nigerian hairstyles. Shani Crowe, superstar braiding artist, was also motivated by this condition in her operate entitled Shakere, which presents a cowrie-shelled cone affixed on leading of the head of a stunning Black lady. The New Black Vanguard’s Sarah, Lagos, Nigeria by Namsa Leuba depicts a female with stylish yellow-and-black cornrowed hair. These items are great examples of how fashionable manner and classic things these as braids and Ankara fabrics become amalgamated to make a one of a kind ensemble of coloration, form, and line.

Colour, condition, and line are integral components to all very good structure, including the style of hair ornaments. For centuries, Black hair has been adorned with gold, silver, and other trinkets these kinds of as beads and cowrie shells to generate hairstyles that have been a representation of position, character, and aptitude. I recall remaining a little woman and my mom styling my hair in tiny ponytails all over my head. At the end of each ponytail, she affixed a plastic adornment — a barrette. These barrettes were being created by way of a molded die slice into the condition of bouquets, bows, birds, and other animals. I keep in mind swinging my head aspect to facet just so that I could experience the barrettes graze in opposition to my shoulders. Althea Murphy-Price’s barrettes range 2, demonstrated in the TEXTURES exhibition, delivers a feeling of nostalgia that only small girls are privileged to. The pinks, blues, oranges, and sea greens convey back memories of matching rompers and skirts swinging in the wind. The New Black Vanguard’s Adeline in Barrettes by Micaiah Carter is a photograph that captures the innovation of French songstress Adeline and how she refreshes an adornment intended for very little children and offers it a advanced, substantial-manner edge.

Operates by Quil Lemons and Devan Shimoyama depict a component of Black culture that is normally not reviewed. Black queerness continues to develop proverbial black sheep throughout communities across the world. The audacious music of Lil Nas X assists to bring forward a subject that proceeds to be swept less than the rug and locked in the closet. New York, from Glitter Boy, a images series by The New Black Vanguard’s Lemons, and Shimoyama’s Elijah, in TEXTURES, both use sparkle and hues of pink as a way to represent the essence of femininity in queer male figures. Shimoyama’s series identified as Crybaby depicts males and boys in a barbershop embellished with crystal teardrops representing the pain that is frequently felt by queer males heading into hypermasculine barbershop areas. Even though a barbershop is an surroundings where most heterosexual Black guys commune and link with their local community, queer males have an obverse experience. The two artists’ works issue society’s concept of what Black masculinity is supposed to be.

From threading to braids, barrettes, and sparkles of “queerful” pleasure, Black hair in and of alone is an artwork form, an art form that has been simultaneously celebrated and despised. It carries on to be the object of quite a few artists’ inspiration due to the fact of its connection to cultural wrestle and self-acceptance, vogue, and controversy. Black hair will continue being the muse of long term artists to come. Several decades from now, you will see that my prophesy was suitable. Black hair by no means dies!