This weekend, Charlotte artist Gil Horne Jr. is spotlighting Black males and how they see and interact with the world. His latest work, “Blackboy,” narrates the Black male reality, its perils to the identity, healing and memory of Black male beauty.
For Horne, who said he was racially profiled at age 10, “Blackboy” is a way to present the Black male in all facets of his life, not just the negative and menacing way he’s portrayed in the media.
“That’s kinda my mission behind this whole series, to change the way people view Black males and Black boys … it can change the way we can interact with the community and the actual world,” Horne explained in a YouTube video.
He added, “It’s a whole different stigma based around who we are versus everybody else, and I feel like it’s leaving us disconnected and away from the community.”
Visitors can buy one-hour timed tickets for either of two opening nights, Friday, Sept. 25, or Saturday, Sept. 26, between 5 to 9 p.m. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at 9189StudioGallery.com. The exhibit will be available through Sept. 30.
The mixed-media collection is curated and hosted by Joanne Rogers, founder of 9•18•9 Studio Gallery in east Charlotte. Horne is a Palette Table artist-in-residence at the gallery.
