RSVP / Into The Night : ‘Shocking’? ‘Easy to Digest’? Depends on Who You Ask

The Scene: Opening reception at UCLA at the Armand Hammer Museum of Art and Cultural Center on Monday night for “Black Male: Representations of Masculinity in Contemporary Art,” an exhibit trailed by controversy since it opened last fall at the Whitney Museum in New York.

Who Was There: More than a thousand people including Peter and Eileen Norton, poised front and center, who underwrote much of the exhibit. Others on hand were Johnnie and Dale Cochran (he contributed to the public forums held in conjunction with the show), plus artists Lyle Ashton Harris, Pat Ward Williams, Alison Saar, Carl Pope, Robert Colescott, Renee Cox and Glenn Ligon; community leaders such as Paula Leftwich, director of the Greater Los Angeles African American Chamber of Commerce; Ellis Gordon, vice president of Founder’s Bank and his wife, author Bebe Moore Campbell, and author and activist Tavis Smiley.

The Buzz: Many found the art “tough” and “shocking,” although some pieces were “easy to digest,” as one guest put it. Most thought the exhibit let the viewers draw their own conclusions. “What I like about it is, I don’t get a sense of persuasion,” offered Barbara Perkins, founding president of the San Fernando Valley chapter of the National Council of Negro Women.

Quoted: “Oh, hardly,” replied Peter Norton when asked if he found the show controversial.

Overheard: Glancing at a male frontal nude wrapped in tulle (a Lyle Ashton Harris photograph), an art maven said, “Armand Hammer would be appalled.”

Noted: “The whole concept of the African American male and his place in society needs to be the subject of some dialogue. It should be enlightened; it should be illuminated; it should be discussed. ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell, don’t talk’ will never bring us together,” said Cochran.

Chow: Jamaican fare from Coley’s restaurant, including fried plantains, turnovers, corn fritters and jerk chicken, plus wine, beer, champagne and, presumably for those downtown types, martinis.

Triumph: The event was scheduled to end at 9 p.m. UCLA let hundreds of people mill around listening to music (by Melvin Van Peebles and Lady Mac) and eating until they finally closed up about 10:30.