Dandy Lion Arrives In Chicago This Spring

It was a few years ago that on a trip to Brooklyn, I stopped into MoCADA to see an exhibit – Dandy Lion. It was an intriguing look at the Black Dandy style that can be seen in cities like New York, Philly, and Chicago, and even as far as the Congo and Western Europe. After seeing the photography presented, I found myself wanting to explore more of this fashion sense that has been sweeping across the Diaspora, and was excited to learn that Dandy Lion is returning to the U.S. in a new exhibit at Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Photography. Dandy Lion: (Re) Articulating Black Masculine Identity, will show from April 6th – July 12th, and will bring together works from over two dozen photographers from throughout the Diaspora, curated by Shantrelle P. Lewis, the mind behind the original exhibit.

MoCP shared with us a preview of six images from Dandy Lion: (Re) Articulating Black Masculine Identity. In them, you can see young Black men defying the stereotypes that cast them all as thieves or thugs based on the way they dress and present themselves. Against the current backdrop of Ferguson and the #Blacklivesmatter movement and with the “hoodie” defense of George Zimmerman ever in mind, Dandy Lion is more impactful than ever – a moment of political resistance in photographs, speaking on behalf of young Black men everywhere against the ongoing definition of Black manhood by outside cultures.

See: Dandy Lion: (Re) Articulating Black Masculine Identity, April 6th – 12th at the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago.