by CHRISTINE REDFERN

Just in time for Black History Month comes Black Body: Race, Resistance, Response, an exhibition currently on display at the MAI (Montréal, arts interculturels). The showing centres on the black experience, as explored by six African-Canadian artists. They use a variety of media, ranging from photography to mixed-media sculptures, to convey various perceptions on race. The show is the brainchild of curator Pamela Edmonds.

“I was always kind of thinking of contemporary ideas of what blackness is,” says Edmonds, “because I don’t think that it’s addressed enough - the complexities of living as African-Canadians. So I wanted to look at how black artists in Canada try to negotiate their own blackness, personally and professionally. Because as a black artist it’s difficult to have your work accepted within the mainstream without it being ethnicized.”

Edmonds says the purpose of the exhibit is twofold: to expose more people of colour to the art world, and to have everyone who sees the works question their own perceptions. “I want everyone to come out with more questions about themselves,” she explains, “about what they think about the world, and maybe try to expand people’s viewpoints, and try to adjust an idea that they hadn’t really thought about before. It’s about presenting a real picture of blackness for people who have been so misrepresented, through visual imagery especially.”

Edmonds handpicked all the artists in the exhibit. At the top of her list was Toronto-based photographer Michael Chambers. “Michael was my first choice,” she says. “I wanted to look at the controversies around the nude body because it’s such a huge issue. And he’s really at the forefront of Canadian artists who are dealing with the issue of race and sexuality and the body and black masculinity, and his work is misunderstood because of all of those things.”

Chambers has been stirring controversy for some 13 years. His works have been on display in exhibits worldwide, including shows in Japan, South Africa and the U.K. Surprisingly, this is his first exhibit in Montreal. “I’ve never been involved with a show that deals with the black body before,” says Chambers. “And because my work deals with the struggles, the joys and strengths of black history, black consciousness and black reality, I felt it was important to have my work in this context.”

Chambers says he initially chose to focus his photography on the black body because he felt the medium needed a black viewpoint. “There have been other photographers who have dealt with the black nude,” he explains. “But it’s not been coming from a black perspective. And initially I thought it was important for me, as an artist, not to criticize black representation in art. Instead of doing that, why not have my own voice speak from a black perspective?”

Chambers’ work is both beautiful and thought provoking. Among the pieces on display at the MAI are “Bullseye,” which depicts a nude black man with a bull’s-eye on the back of his head, and “SoundShut,” a photograph of a nude black man with his mouth wired shut. Like all of his pieces, these works carry a large message.

“It’s about black beauty,” Chambers muses. “But it’s also about the beauty of the human spirit. In showing the nudes, it’s really about the lines, contrast, compositions, and it’s left up to the viewer to make the message come alive. :

Black Body shows until Feb. 15 at
the MAI (3680 Jeanne-Mance), 982-1812