Artist Jeremy Biggers tackles insecurities, burdens that Black men face in new exhibition

Artist Jeremy Biggers, a South Dallas native, has a new solo exhibition, “Unspoken Burdens,” on view through Aug. 14 at the South Dallas Cultural Center.

The exhibition is composed of a series of paintings and drawings that broach the conversation around male identity, social constructs and unspoken burdens that men face, as well as one video segment to showcase instances of cultural appropriation that affect Black communities, such as long acrylic nails, do-rags and box braids.

“Whether you’re a Black man, whether you’re not, I wanted it to be something that you could get that feeling by looking at the work. Whether you experienced it firsthand or not, you still feel what the story is behind this — you know there’s something there,” Biggers says.

Biggers attended Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, where he primarily focused on expression through graphite and charcoal drawing. The exhibition was inspired by the pandemic and subsequent events, including the death of George Floyd. Biggers says that as a result of the pandemic, he has found himself in a darker place than usual.

“I’m still waking up unhappy, not necessarily truly unhappy, but just not fully just, like, excited to start the day, every day. So I was like, ‘What is going on?’” Biggers says.

Biggers says that he was unhappy with how he looked and decided to dedicate time to losing weight. “I know a lot of people have things that they’re insecure about, but they might not be able to change. The thing that I’m insecure about is something, fortunately, I’m able to change. I can lose weight,” Biggers says.

After losing more than 50 pounds, Biggers began working on the first pieces of the “Unspoken Burden” exhibition, initially focused on work highlighting the impact of insecurities. But after creating the first few pieces, Biggers realized the show was about more than just insecurities.

“Maybe it’s not the insecurities. Because everyone has insecurities. It’s the burden that Black men face; you have those real human insecurities, and on top of that you don’t really ever have a vulnerable place, like there’s no place that exists, that Black men are allowed to be vulnerable,” Biggers says.