Dandy Lion: (Re) Articulating Black Masculine Identity features images of both emerging and world-renowned photographers and filmmakers from various regions of the African Diaspora, including the U.S., South Africa, the Congo and Western Europe. Juxtaposed against an urban backdrop, the “hip hop” generation’s Black Dandy is noticeably different from the historical minstrel or Harlem Renaissance queer prototype. 

The 21st century Black Dandy’s sartorial choices are an expression of the African aesthetic rather than an imitation of European high-brow society. Using their self-fashioned bodies as sites of resistance, contemporary Black dandies are complicating modern narratives of what it means to be Black, masculine and fashionable today.

Shamsavari’s images include a twelve foot mural, and twelve additional portraits of British and European Black Dandies as well as a video installation that documents participants of her work and their perspectives on Black Dandyism and style. Other featured artists include Daniele Tamagni, Rose Callahan and Ruddy Roye.