Minstrel Man by Langston Hughes

Because my mouth

Is wide with laughter

And my throat

Is deep with song,

You do not think

I suffer after

I have held my pain

So long?

Because my mouth

Is wide with laughter,

You do not hear

My inner cry?

Because my feet

Are gay with dancing,

You do not know

I die?

In his poem, Minstrel Man, Langston Hughes (1902-1967) poignantly addresses a basic truth of social perception and individual identity: What you see on the outside does not always reflect what is happening on the inside. A smile does not necessarily express happiness or pleasure. Sometimes a smile is a mask used to hide the pain within. Hughes articulates a profound reality that resonates with many readers by referencing the popular form of nineteenth-century American entertainment: the minstrel show, also known as the Blackface tradition.

In this tradition, both White and Black men, darkened their faces with a black substance made of burnt cork and grease.[1] They outlined their lips with white or red pigment and performed on stage an exaggerated fictional representation of African American men and women. Minstrel shows were performed for the amusement of thousands of audiences across the country. Simultaneously, these performances blurred the line between the fictional caricatures of Black people depicted as happy to live as slaves, and the actual Black people who, despite their inhumane treatment, struggled to survive as slaves and free Blacks in the New World.

This fascinating history has left a deep psychosocial, literary, and visual impact on Americans that is relevant even now in the twenty-first century. It leaves a series of complex questions in its wake: In the nineteenth-century, how did the performance of fictions of Black identity affect both White and Black viewers? Since then, how have popular ideas about Black Americans changed and/or stayed the same? How can Americans find a way to confront this painful history and discuss it in order to deal with its legacy? David Huffman is intrigued with these questions and the history from which they emerge. In his effort to respond, he has asked himself, “How do I control these images and make them mine? These representations are hard to own.”[2] Huffman has responded by creating a dynamic narrative and a visual world to imagine the ways in which these questions may be addressed.

In 1995, David Huffman began serious experimentation with the loaded images of Blacks from the minstrel era. His early paintings depicted the trope of the Black banjo player, an art historical icon from the nineteenth-century of the “happy plantation darky.” Dissatisfied with the recreation of the single figure, Huffman sought to create an environment in which the smiling performer could rebel and become the agent of his own destiny. Huffman created characters called “trauma smiles” named for their wide toothy grins that reflect the trauma of generations of physical, emotional, and psychological pain.

Huffman’s narrative that chronicles the trauma smiles’ experiences in outer space to observe galactic phenomena. This journey in outer space is simultaneously a fantastic voyage allowing them to explore their own inner spaces. The never ending journey is a mission of healing and exploration of the self. In this inner/outer world, the trauma smiles can reconnect with themselves and the infinite space around them.

In Organic Dark Matter, 2002, from the Dark Matter series, Huffman explores the journeys of the trauma smiles. In the composition, traumanauts–Trauma Smiles wearing their astronaut suits– float in their dark polluted environment that is both intimidating and full of possibilities. Excited to observe an anomaly in their atmosphere, they commune within the environment of clouds, fluids, and bursts of gasses with joy and weightlessness.

Huffman is influenced by an eclectic array of sources. Through his paintings and drawings, he combines his interests in astronomy, African American history, Japanese anime, Western art history, and Gray’s Anatomy. His eclectic compositions are as much about the psychosis of racism as they are about the art of painting and abstraction. Huffman explains that when beginning a new painting, he works as a “Taoist abstract expressionist.”[3] Huffman creates a tension between the translucent atmospheric washes and the flat opaque imagery that lies on the surface. He forms the spatial environments with layers of paint that chemically react on canvas and board. The visual result of this technique mimics the evolution of dark matter. This nebulous space is shaped by an aspect of the narrative and then slowly, a specific graphic element anchors the painting. The familiar tissue-like imagery of deep space serves as a constant reminder that the traumanauts travel in two worlds. The graphic elements bring a human and sometimes humorous aspect to the work with which viewers can identity. The combination of the abstract background and graphic foreground creates a moodiness that compels viewers to follow the journey into this unknown world.

Dark Matter includes “formation paintings” such as Untitled, 2003. In this composition, the atmosphere radiates with a bright and open quality. The traumanauts come together in an awkward circle formation to survey the area. Around them are small bangs and colorful starbursts: evidence of creation and renewal. The misty environment is hopeful and the figures playfully celebrate the light in the darkness of space. Witnessing the beauty of this illumination creates a healing inner experience for the traumanauts. Moments like these inspire them to continue their journey toward greater wisdom and understanding.

Since 1993, Huffman has been exhibiting his work in California and New York. Most recently Huffman’s work has been on view at the Institute of Contemporary Art, San José, the San José Museum of Art, New Langton Arts, San Francisco, The Studio Museum in Harlem, and the Santa Monica Museum of Art. Simultaneous with Dark Matter, Huffman’s work is featured in the exhibition David Huffman Paintings on view at the Patricia Sweetow Gallery in San Francisco (April 1-May 15, 2004). Huffman is excited about an upcoming project of creating a series of instructional manuals for the trauma smile characters. He is currently lecturer of painting and drawing at Santa Clara University and the California College of Arts and Crafts.

Bridget R. Cooks, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Department of Art and Art History

Ethnic Studies Program

Santa Clara University