Dandy Lion: Behold…A Gentleman

Dandy Lion: Behold…A Gentleman
Curated by Shantrelle P. Lewis
Presented in Association with Society HAE’s HARLEM POP

Opening Reception
Saturday, November 6, 2010 - 2pm to 6 p.m.
Location: Harlem PoP
Street: 2037 Fifth Avenue (126th street)
City/Town: Harlem, NY
-- Complimentary Fashion Portraits Courtesy of Award Wining Photographer Delphine Fawundu-Buford --

On View: November 6 – November 28, 2010

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Photography by:
Elen K. Awalom
Laylah Amatullah Barrayn
Russell K. Frederick
Cassi Amanda Gibson
Akintola Hanif
Jamala Johns
Dexter Jones
Lafotographeuse
Brandi Pettijohn
Hanif Abdur-Rahim
Radcliffe Roye

dan•dy \ˈdan-dē\
n. pl. dan•dies

1. A man who affects extreme elegance in clothes and manners; a fop.
2. Something very good or agreeable

Juxtaposed against an urban backdrop where the clothing of choice for many black men consists of a pair of sagging pants, exposed boxers and white tees – the “hip hop” generation has produced another phenomenon of style – the New Age dandy. A performance and embodiment of sophistication, Dandy Lions are gentlemen of exceptional manners who consciously postulate what it means to be Black, masculine and full of “swag”, not simply as performance but an embodiment of a lifestyle.

Dandy Lion takes a glance at urban Black Dandies who like their continental African counterparts, Le Sapeur of Brazzaville, Congo, embody style, sophistication and a commitment to culture via dramatized masculinity. Dandy Lion is an homage to the fashionable urban gentleman – an African Diasporan man of style, an urban connoisseur of sophistication and a contemporary man of SWAG.


Image: "A Revolutionary in Etiquette - Connosieurs of SWAG" by Hanif Abdur-Rahim