Wright Museum art exhibition 'Double ID' highlights struggles of Black men

The struggles of Black men throughout history and culture are examined in a major art exhibition in Detroit.

"Double ID," a powerful exhibition bringing together 54 works from the private collection of acclaimed actress and renowned art collector CCH Pounder, is on display through Oct. 20 at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History. The show focuses on depictions of Black men through the lens of W.E.B. Du Bois’ theory of “double consciousness.”

First presented in Du Bois’ 1903 collection of essays, “The Souls of Black Folk,” double consciousness describes the dissonance of Black self-perception within a dominant white society, and the conflicting journey to understand oneself as a result. Wright President and CEO Neil Barclay formulated the concept for the exhibition.

"Double ID" uses works by an intergenerational group of artists across the African diaspora to paint a multifaceted portrait of Black masculinity and to challenge stereotypes about Black men throughout history and culture. Both emerging and internationally renowned artists are featured in the show, including Greg Bailey, Elizabeth Catlett, Louis Delsarte, Tewodros Hagos, Sesse Ngeselin-Elangwe, Fahamu Pecou, Ebony G. Patterson, Malick Sidibé, Alexi Torres, and Kehinde Wiley.

“How we present ourselves to the public is often not what we are internally,” Pounder told the Free Press. “You can be a giant, muscular, big man, and yet your head is bowed. ‘You do not look me in the eye,’ and all of those things. And over the years, that’s become something else — has become crossing the road so that you don’t present danger to somebody. It can be walking with a hoodie, eating a chocolate bar, and a police car goes by and they say, ‘What are you doing here?’ And from a free, happy-go-lucky kid, you’re suddenly in the presence of danger. This sort of double indemnity is how this came about.”

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Pounder, an award-winning actress, has starred in such television series as “NCIS: New Orleans” and “ER,” and films including “Rustin,” “Bagdad Café” and James Cameron’s “Avatar” blockbusters. She became acquainted with Barclay when he was based in New Orleans before signing on with the Wright.

“Prior to being in Detroit, he was in New Orleans,” she recalled, “and I had moved from California to New Orleans because I had gotten this series. We were required to move lock, stock and barrel, and so the (art) collection came with me. The first time I showed it was at Xavier University — that was QUEEN, a show that was here (at the Wright) before. Neil was instrumental in bringing it from Xavier. We are so thrilled to be back at the Wright Museum showing other aspects of contemporary African diasporic works in our collection.”

Barclay expressed deep gratitude to Pounder for returning to the museum with still more world-class art.

“This exhibition asks us to consider the ways in which Black men see themselves, and are seen in today's society,” said Barclay. “It would not be possible were it not for the generosity of CCH Pounder. Ms. Pounder has allowed us to bring this collection to The Wright at this critical moment in our history and supported our curation through the framework of W.E.B. Du Bois' work.”

Pounder emphasized the importance of museum visitors being able to see a large display of contemporary Black and African people in the show’s images.

“You can see certain kinds of stories,” she said, “and certain kinds of exist here, something that could be about today. That’s really important — that they don’t feel like they’re looking at history in which they’re a step back and not involved in it. It’s kind of thrilling.”

Contact Free Press arts and culture reporter Duante Beddingfield at dbeddingfield@freepress.com.