The
use of the space and the way Mr. Brantley's artwork is set up
provides a spacious yet intimate setting for the viewer to properly
engage with the art. If you go see this show (which will run until
September 23), be mindful of your wristwatch because Parade Day
Rain has a unique way of making one lose the sense of time. Parade
Day Rain is so captivating because it holds a conversation that
resonates with everyone, but Chicagoans especially.
Mr.
Brantley communicates to Chicagoans with his instrument of choice,
his trademark cartoon figures of child superheroes, the flyboys.
Superficially, this may seem like a bit of a paradox. How can a
child be a superhero? But if we think about it a little longer: how
could a child not be a superhero? Who else carries a stronger
sense of idealism, or a conscience freer from prejudice and
corruption? Are these not the required traits for a superhero?
They
are, but as Mr. Brantley demonstrates, they are increasingly under
threat. While some of his paintings and floats depict these little
heroes in the full glamor of triumph, many give us a more tragic
picture, child superheroes defeated by the negative forces of our
modern world: noise, violence, or garbage of any kind. Whether the
connection was accidental or intentional, these flyboys (most
of them of darker skin tones) represent the predicament that surrounds the
youth of our city's most neglected neighborhoods.
This
is why I think Mr. Brantley's work is so successful, because it
conveys a serious message through a medium that everyone can
understand. And the message is simple: Chicago's hope rests on the
youth, but the youth's space for growth is quickly being expropriated by
hostility. We are sinking our own life boats. What is impressive is
that Mr. Brantley communicates this not through a graphic narrative,
but simply by expressing the tension between the real and the ideal.
Who ever thought cartoons could be so forceful?
Chicago
is lucky to have him.
