The Gingerblack Man at YMICC Sparks Controversy and Creativity

by Marcianne Miller

Run, run, run, as fast as you can,
you can't catch me
I'm the Gingerbread Man
--children's story

Expect Georgia artist Donté K. Hayes and his exhibit, The Misadventures of the Gingerblack Man, to spark controversy, communication and creativity at the YMICC this month. The display of 21 paintings (acrylic on roofing paper) features his symbolic hybrid character, The Gingerblack Man, who represents African-Americans' lingering problems with racism.

The Gingerbread Man of children's stories is always running away from obstacles and predators, until uh oh, he often gets eaten by the last one, usually a fox. Sambo is a more controversial character. Little Black Sambo, written in 1899 by Scotswoman Helen Batterman, tells of an Indian boy who loses his clothes to nasty tigers and then chases them until he turns them into ghe or butter. In the book's illustrations Sambo looked more African than Indian and in time he came to typify negative stereotypes of African Americans as shiftless and lazy. The Sambo image was popular in the U.S., spawning an untold number of reproductions, especially in cookware, because the kitchen was the area of the house often relegated to the "colored" help.

Hayes combines the two characters into one new one, The Gingerblack Man. He sets this hybrid character into his paintings in situations that symbolize the old negative African American imagery being transformed into acts of healing. The images are equally humorous and provocative, layered with symbolism from the African-American experience. By basing his work on familiar imagery, Hayes illuminates the terrible ability of stereotypes to linger in the American psyche.

"It's so hard for people to talk about things that are controversial," says Hayes. ""My goal," he continues, "is to spark meaningful reaction through humor, thus opening the viewer to thoughtful interpretation and reflection, rather than misunderstanding."

The Paperbag Test portrays a Gingerblack Man sneaking out of the top of a brown grocery bag as a woman stands nearby, with lighter colored gingerbread men on the table. In the past, Hayes explains, mothers would put a paper bag next to their children's faces to see whose lighter skin color would allow them to be accepted into the better schools. "Break loose from your mind-set about color," Hayes implores the viewers of this piece.

I Love My Nappy Hair, Big Lips and Watermelon portrays a girl in total happiness with herself and what she's doing. Hayes wants African Americans to "reclaim ourselves, reclaim those things that others said are ugly."

Aunt Jemima's Family Dysfunction is based on pillow dolls made between 1917 and 1929 by the David Mills Co., which represented the maple syrup icon and her so-called family. In the painting are her husband Uncle Mose, a male relative named Wade, and her daughter Diana. The Gingerblack Man flying off on the string of the balloon represents the dysfunctional family many African Americans have today. "We're still dealing with the legacy of slavery," Hayes says. "It's those things that make the black family dysfunctional-black men leaving their families, abandoned mothers raising their children alone. We've dealt with the issues slavery left us--but we haven't healed from it yet."

Middle Passage calls up a horrifying chapter in history, the time when Africans were packed like sardines into the midsections of ships sailing from African to America-"the middle passage." In this painting a woman is still trying to fit in, lining up as many cookies as will fit on a baking sheet.

If You Go:
What: The Misadventures of the Gingerblack Man exhibit by artist Donté K. Hayes
Where: The YMI Cultural Center, 39 South Market Street
When: Tues-Sat. 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. until Dec. 4. Closed Sundays & Mondays
Call: (828) 252-4614
Exhibit is free.
Website: www.ymicc.org.


Student Self-Image Creativity Day-December 3

In order to leave a more lasting impression of his ideas, artist Donté K. Hayes will be teaching a class for 20 local junior and high school students on December 3, the day before the exhibit closes. He and the students will create an interactive art piece that shows how beautiful are the differences of each person. Mirrors and life size self-portraits will be stacked on cardboard box cubes and attached to PVC poles. The end result would be seven poles, each with spinning cubes, so viewers can see the head of one portrait, and the body and legs of others. The portraits will become mixed up by spinning each cube. The mirror on one side of each cube allows viewers to become one with the art.

I agree--it's a fantastic idea and I can't wait to see it.

For information on this class, contact YMICC arts and education director, Margaret Fuller at (828) 252-4614

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