the color of power
heroes, sheroes, & their creators
Calling all superhero/shero lovers/fanatics! Many of us consume superhero/shero stories daily, immersing ourselves in their fantastic worlds. We see ourselves in their back stories, super strengths, and weaknesses. However, rarely do these characters, that we so love, have their narratives, or their creators, reflected in our actual diverse world. Our exhibition, The Color of Power: Heroes, Sheroes, & Their Creators! explores these issues.
The Color of Power: Heroes, Sheroes, & Their Creators exhibition is guest curated and features art from critically-acclaimed graphic novelist, activist, and philanthropist Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez of Somos Arte. On display will be the work of Sanford Greene, Alitha Martinez, Nilah Magruder, Afua Richardson, Ronald Wimberly, Billy Graham, and Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez, guest curator. These comic book artists have achieved great commercial success and critical acclaim, creating stories that celebrate the beauty and rich heritage of the African Diaspora.
With roots in Antigua, The Bahamas, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and the United States they share special works of their powerful characters from their personal art collections. Through this reflective exhibition of stories and characters, audiences will be impacted by our many superpowers that have long sustained our communities and cultures.
The Color of Power: Heroes, Sheroes, & Their Creators exhibition is made possible with support from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, New York State Council on the Arts and the Ford Foundation
Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez is a graphic novelist most notably recognized as the writer and creator of the critically acclaimed and bestselling superhero series La Borinqueña. In addition, he is celebrated for his philanthropic efforts via the benefit anthology Ricanstruction: Reminiscing & Rebuilding Puerto Rico featuring La Borinqueña teaming up with Wonder Woman, Superman, Batman and other DC Comics heroes. He self-published this anthology under his own studio Somos Arte and to date Edgardo has raised close to a quarter of a million dollars for grassroots organizations in Puerto Rico via the La Borinqueña Grants Program. As the Creative Director and owner of Somos Arte, a Brooklyn-based creative services studio he has worked with such notable clients as Atlantic Records, Sony Pictures, Columbia University, and Marvel. In addition, Edgardo is a curator of art exhibitions having already produced three original Marvel comic book art exhibitions and his very own La Borinqueña for the Smithsonian Museums.
Sanford Greene has worked professionally in comic illustration and related industries for over 15 years, including work for mainline publishers Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, and Image Comics. His most recent work with Marvel series Black Panther, Luke Cage, Power Man and Iron Fist have made him well known in the comic-book scene, but his work is multidimensional. Exploring his versatility as an artist and illustrator, this exhibition also features Greene’s newest series Bitter Root, an epic tale about a family of monster hunters set in the Harlem Renaissance.
Afua Richardson is an American Comicbook artist, musician, singer, and author. Although best known for her illustrations in the Eisner™ Award winning miniseries Black Panther - World of Wakanda for Marvel Comics, Afua’s art has been seen in a diverse range of projects from 20th Century Fox, HBO and comic publishers including DC and Image Comics, Random House, Kodansha and many others since 2004 . Originally from New York City, This Atlanta Based artist has utilized her background as a classical Flautist, Voice actor, songwriter and performer to create harmony in her color schemes and vivid imagery. Today, Afua continues to work on comics and musical projects from her home in Georgia, where she inspires, mentors, and guides artists to find their unique voice on their own creative journey. Afua’s series Aquarius the book of Mer will be released in Fall 2020
Nilah Magruder is a writer and artist based in Los Angeles. From her beginnings in the woods of the eastern United States she developed an eternal love for three things: nature, books, and animation. She has written and storyboarded for television studios like DreamWorks and Disney. She also illustrates children’s books, including the Dactyl Hill Squad series by Daniel José Older from Scholastic. Nilah is the author of M.F.K., a middle-grade graphic novel from Insight Editions and the winner of the Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity, and How to Find a Fox, a picture book. She has published short fiction in the anthology All Out (edited by Saundra Mitchell), in Fireside Magazine, and for Marvel.
Alitha Evelyn Martinez is the Eisner Award Winning artist of the Black Panther: World of Wakanda series. Her professional career began in 1999 penciling Iron Man for Marvel Entertainment. Since then, she has worked on X-Men: Black Sun; Marvel Age Fantastic Four; Black Panther and Black Panther: World of Wakanda; X-Men Gold Annual; Moon Girl, Mark Morales Spiderman, and Fearless; Voltron; NBC’s Heroes; New 52 Bat Girl; Archie Comic’s New Crusaders and Riverdale; and WWE Superstar, WWE Slam City, and Barbie for Paper Cutz. Larger projects that required more than just penciling and inking include graphic novels like Vampire: My Boyfriend Bites; Kung Fu Masters; Quest for Dragon Mountain for Lerner Publications; also, Political cartooning for the New York Post. She also works on her creator-owned titles Yume and Ever, and Foreign, which is published through her company, Ariotstorm Productions, LLC.. Current projects include Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur for Marvel and Humanoid’s new American title, Omni.
Ronald Wimberly is a multitalented artist, writer, and editor. He created the graphic novel Prince of Cats as an interpretation of Romeo and Juliet set in 1980s New York City; drew a collection of quotes from black luminaries, Black History in Its Own Words; and is currently working on Sunset Park, all published by Image Comics. His newest project is the tabloid newspaper LAAB Magazine, a collaboration between Wimberly and Beehive Books. LAAB #0,subtitled Dark Matter, touches on the intersections between comics, pop culture, and fine art, and features work by and interviews with artists like Saul Williams, Trenton Doyle Hancock, and Alexandra Bell, as well as comics by Wimberly, Richie Pope, and Freddie Carrasco.