Comedian Eddie Murphy’s controversial 1983 concert film "Delirious," which helped catapult him to superstardom, experienced backlash from the LGBT community due to its incendiary, homophobic content. The UCLA Hammer Museum re-examines "Delirious" with a screening of the film, followed by a discussion with artist Mark Bradford and UCLA associate professor of English Uri McMillan on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 7:30, at the Billy Wilder Theater.
Bradford will discuss how he was influenced by the film to create the multimedia installation, "Spiderman," to address Murphy's problematic depiction of gays and people living with AIDS. In the installation, Bradford performs a comedy routine channeling the explicit irreverence of African-American entertainers such as Blowfly (Clarence Henry Reid), Jackie “Moms” Mabley and Richard Pryor. Through the artwork's canned laugh track emerges a critique of the cultural fear, ignorance and misrepresentation surrounding black masculinity and the early years of the AIDS crisis. "Spiderman" is a component of the exhibition, "Mark Bradford: Scorched Earth," which appears at the Hammer through Sept. 27.
McMillian studies nineteenth- and twentieth-century performance cultures and their intersection with literary cultures and visual art, with a particular emphasis on black performance art. He has courtesy appointments in UCLA's departments of Afro-American studies and gender studies, and he sits on the faculty advisory committees for the UCLA College's LGBT minor and disability studies minor.
The event is free, but tickets are required and available at the Hammer box office starting one hour before the program. One ticket per person; first-come, first-served. Early arrival is recommended. For more information, visit the Hammer website.