Translating Valence: redefining Black male identity

Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts | Grand Rapids, Michigan

Translating Valence explores ideas surrounding Black masculinity that exist both in alignment with and in opposition to widely held historical and stereotypical beliefs. The title references the psychological theory of emotional valence, which describes the value or emotional charge assigned to stimuli, ranging from attractive to aversive. While this concept is rarely applied to individuals, one could argue that stereotypes about Black men produce negative valence. Although valence is said to be intrinsic, this exhibition questions both its relevance and its objectivity.

The Black male experience embodies shared trauma as well as shared resilience. Historically, Black men have been demonized and reduced to stereotypes centered on physicality. In contemporary culture, the Black male body continues to be perceived as threatening—a weapon in and of itself—instilling fear upon sight. In response, Black male artists have worked to deconstruct these images, shifting the gaze from fetishization and objectification toward collective vulnerability. Through strategic acts of revealing and obscuring, they reclaim authorship over their representation.

This exhibition examines what lies within the folds and what spills from the creases—deconstructing the body to both reveal and conceal through the manipulation of imagery. It presents narratives told and retold, layered with redefinition and reinterpretation. Each artist reconstructs figures from the remnants of history, allowing materials and memories to flow between distortion, subconscious recall, and newfound understanding.

Featuring the work of Black male artists who employ figurative abstraction, Translating Valence not only reimagines the visual language of Black masculinity but also challenges the ideologies that have long defined it. While grounded in personal experience, these works invite viewers to question—and perhaps begin to dismantle—entrenched assumptions and imposed definitions of Black male identity.

Each artist assumes a position of agency by deciding what to reveal, and thus make vulnerable, and what to keep veiled. The Black male body becomes a point of counterbalance between conflicting narratives, while its abstraction gestures toward secrecy, protection, and reclamation. Though the exhibition centers explicitly on Black masculinity, it ultimately extends to broader existential questions of humanity—inviting reflection on connection, empathy, and the complexities of relational understanding.