Arts Off 75: Exploring Black Representation in Media

The life of an artist is all about hustling for the jobs and projects that pay the bills, and I’ve had no shortage of that in my career. In my early years, pursuing a dance career required extraordinary time devoted to training and rehearsals, often at the expense of a stable income. One could only hope for a service industry job with flexible scheduling, like a bookseller – my humble position at the time.

Flashing back to those early days of my career, I vividly recall one day when I was on my usual route to class at the Dayton Ballet studios, and I found myself in a scene that felt straight out of a feature film. It was one of those moments where you discover that truth is indeed stranger than fiction. I watched as the son of talent agent Jo Goenner entered the elevator. He took one look at me and asked, “Have you ever considered modeling?”

I was a bit weary of this question from a stranger, and answered with a solid, “No”. I never once thought I could make money from standing in front of the camera and having my picture taken, much less someone approaching me with the offer. Those sorts of things only happened in big cities, like New York or LA, but certainly not Dayton, Ohio. Still, when an opportunity for extra income presented itself, I had to at least consider it.

He handed me Jo’s business card and I gave her a call, launching the start of a beautiful partnership. I appeared in several commercials and ad campaigns over the years, usually as a young dad or an insurance representative for Safe Auto’s call center (if you want to go down that rabbit hole, you can track it down on YouTube). I never gave much thought to what this type of media representation meant beyond a financial means to an end – until now.

When I read the description of Posing Beauty in African American Culture, I saw my experiences through a different lens that considered my identity as a Black man. This exhibition at the Taft Museum of Art is a traveling collection of documentary, commercial and fine arts photography that considers the cultural and individual impact of representation. Specifically, it examines images of Black men and women, looking at how those images can have layers with positive and negative meanings.

I admit I have been fortunate to look back at my modeling experiences as stepping stones to my current role as host of The Art Show. Through this visually provocative and intellectually stimulating exhibition, I now see that I have always represented some variation of a professional Black man who is aspirational and acceptable to the masses. I understand now that this identity is deeply woven into my career and professional experiences.

“Posing Beauty in African American Culture” offers an excellent opportunity to explore class, race and affluence, while also raising important questions about art and commerce:

• What was going through the minds of the subjects of the various paintings and photographs presented while they were posed?
• Did the models in these images fully understand the fraught nature of Black representation in art and commercial media? Or did they see their participation in a completely different light?
• Was income a primary driver for them too? Did they view their work as an exchange of services, in the same way that I did at first?
• Did they predict or even begin to imagine the lasting impact and legacy of their work?

I am sure that when I visit the Taft Theatre, the images will touch memories, evoke emotion and pose even more questions just like these. I encourage you to embark on this voyage of discovery and experience the exhibition yourself. Regardless of your background or experiences, it promises to be both beautiful and enlightening.

Posing Beauty in African American Culture

Saturday, October 5, through Sunday, January 12
Presented at the Taft Museum of Art in Cincinnati, OH
Learn more: https://www.taftmuseum.org/exhibitions/posing.

Be sure to check out these other exhibits, performances and art events in the Dayton and Cincinnati areas this month:

Rodney Veal
CET and Think^TV Producer and Community Arts Liaison