Hebru Brantley Wants You To Feel Something

By Michell C. Clark


Hebru Brantley creates alternate universes with his art, although his work speaks to the reality of the world that shaped him.


The 39-year-old artist from Chicago’s Southside doesn’t confine his creative self-expression to one medium — he’s worked with oil, acrylic, watercolor, spray paint, video, sculpture, fiberglass, and photography while in his career. Two hallmarks of his work are the characters Flyboy and Lil Mama, two aviator goggle-wearing figures inspired by the Tuskegee Airmen, an audience of African-American fighter and bomber pilots who overcame racial prejudice to be one of the most revered fighter groups while in World War II. (Perhaps you’ve seen the characters on murals around Chicago, or in the music video for Chance The Rapper’s “Angels,” which features Chance flying over major landmarks in the city.)


Brantley’s work has also been collected by the likes of Jay-Z, George Lucas, Kevin Durant, and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, and the artist has exhibited in London, San Francisco, Atlanta, Miami, Seattle, Los Angeles, and New York, and has collaborated with Nike, Hublot, and Adidas. Although no matter the medium or the location, most Hebru Brantley assignments are driven by narrative, and rooted in nostalgia, power, and hope.


His newest project is a little bit closer to home: Nevermore Park, an immersive pop-up art experience located in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood and open through December 29. Created in partnership with MWM Universe and Irritated Hero, the 6,000 square-foot, immersive installation presents guests with a neo-futuristic take on Chicago that prioritizes Black culture and Black heroes. Visitors enter an established art gallery, and move through a total of 19 different experiences: A newspaper explores stories of Black history from the 1950s to today; a crashed rocket plays President John F. Kennedy’s well known moon speech; along with a “Sign Graveyard” references formerly-thriving areas of Chicago that have been divested of resources or abandoned.


“This project is about reclaiming history — both In the
U.S. And the city of Chicago — through a lens that speaks to empowerment and giving business to a historically disenfranchised community,” Brantley mentioned in a press release ahead of the project’s beginning. He wants Nevermore Park to help people who are learning to understand and celebrate their creativity, and to show through art that Black peoples’ stories hold power.


MTV News talked with Brantley about why he chose to step away from the established gallery experience with Nevermore Park, how he believes social media impacts the way people right now engage with art, and the legacy he seeks to leave with his work.


MTV News: As soon as did you realize you wanted to be an artist? 


Hebru Brantley: a couple of little moments pushed me to pick art. Happiness has routinely been my bottom line. I'm only happy as soon as I’m creating. I’ve routinely been that way. I've had every sort of job under the sun. I've never gotten any sense of fulfillment from any of these jobs. The only thing that I really have noticed fulfillment with is creating — whether that's illustration, painting, or sculpting. I didn't habitually know how art would support my life, however I had an organic inclination to do the work and figure out the specifics as I went along.


MTV News: What inspired you to make Nevermore Park? What does the project mean to you?


Brantley: Nevermore Park is an interactive, immersive pop-up experience. It’s a blend of exhibition art and theater. It's a cross-section of the work that I have been doing for the past eight to ten years and the fantastical, and is based around Flyboy and Lil Mama.


I include references to something like because the history of the Tuskegee Airmen, and what they meant — not only in regards to the things they did, nevertheless the ramifications they had towards all of our futures. I'm using these moments to explain certain narrative points in my story. I'm fitting my characters into stories that already exist, nevertheless tweaking the stories a little to create them a little bit more imaginative.


Ultimately, I want this to be an institution in Chicago that keeps it up and continues to evolve. There is a lot of historic relevance to it as it relates to African-American culture. There’s also a revisionist history component that speaks directly to the history of Chicago. Chicago was founded by a Black Haitian man named Jean Baptiste du Sable. There really are a lot of historic gaps in his legacy and his lineage. I like to explore and embellish that segment of history, and make it a little more imaginative.


MTV News: What inspired you to pick this medium for Nevermore Park? 


Brantley: This experience is a more available extension of the gallery work that I’ve been doing for years. Galleries are traditionally governed by a “look however don’t touch” rule. That world feels stuffy, to me. Only a certain demographic of people is able to participate in those events.


I'd like to broaden the demographic of people who are able to experience my work. We stay during the age of the experience. I want to lend my creations to more obtainable spaces while further exploring notions or concepts that I’ve dealt with in the past. I'd like to prepare people more comfortable with engaging with my work. I think that my art has brought people into spaces they otherwise would not be drawn to. This is an organic progression of that.


MTV News: What do you want guests to take from the physical experience?


Brantley: I want people to understand that things like this can exist. I want this to evoke a sense of emotion, and to inspire people. It's essential that kids, young adults, and adults — especially people of color — visualize these things and recognize that our stories and imaginations have weight and power them. I want to bring forth our story, our history, and our culture and share it in this new medium.


Whether you love Nevermore Park or hate it, I want you to walk away feeling something. In case you don't love it, however think you can do it better, maybe it'll give you a jumping-off point. There was never a "me" growing up, so I did not have a point of reference. My my reference points were Andy Warhol and George Lucas. They didn't look like me and damn sure didn't come from where I came from. I do this for other people who are coming into this space of gaining understanding and celebrating their creativity. I want to stimulate people to celebrate the fact that they have a different take than the norm.


MTV News: A major way people experience art right now is through social media — and both you and your work have a significant following. How do you suggest social media has changed how people engage with art? For better or for worse?


Brantley: Social media is what made art cool. Any time As soon as I was growing up, artists weren't accepted outdoor of niche crowds. Any time certain artists and rappers began proclaiming that they collect art, it put more of a spotlight on art. I think it’s excellent that so several kids are expressing themselves visually on Instagram today. It’s starting up new lanes. It used exceedingly rare to be able to see artists celebrated on a mainstream level. The ones that were celebrated to that extent were already dead. That’s no longer the case — today, you visualize visual artists who are pop stars with millions of followers.


MTV News: Who encouraged you to understand and celebrate your creativity while you were growing up? 


Brantley: I was fortunate to have a mother who was as understanding as she possibly could have been. She was a creative in her own right, nevertheless did not have the means to nurture her creativity growing up. She would worry that I wouldn't make any cash as a creative, nevertheless she habitually attempted to support what I was into. As much as she moaned about all my comic books lying all over the floor, she gave me access to as much as she may so that I could continue to pursue my passions.


MTV News: How do you pay that forward to other artists?


Brantley: In this era, support can come in several forms — including an encouraging “like” or a comment on someone else’s Instagram page. A lot of young creatives have however to define their own fashion. I take a second to look at their work, or engage with large groups of students, or do workshops. I’ll also do Q&As. I’m habitually attempting to engage with artists who are younger than me.


This world is built by artists and creatives — people who can visualize behind what already exists. I believe that one of the reasons I’m here's to support and champion those people.I know that I’m not the end-all, be-all. Someone is coming right after me. I want to do whichever I can to cultivate that and push those people forward.


MTV News: Has there ever been a time as soon as you started working on a piece and also you realized it just wasn’t happening? How did you stage name that, and what did you learn from that? 


Brantley: It happens all of the time. I habitually dream big, yet I don't routinely get the results that I had envisioned. I have to habitually adapt to the present. My expectations are usually high, although I'm also realistic. I know everything isn't going to turn out the way that I want it to. I am also happy with my creations being out and simply existing. It could may not be brilliant, although it exists. I can talk about it and dissect it. I take what I learned from that experience, good, bad or otherwise, into the next thing. I can't get discouraged. I have to keep creating.


MTV News: You earned a B.A. In Film from Clark Atlanta University, and recently signed a script deal with Sony Photos — what do you seek to complete as a filmmaker?


Brantley: Filmmaking is another form of storytelling that I appreciate. I have a lot of stories to tell, and we only have yet so much time to spend on this plane. I want some of the things that I've worked on over the years to have their first or second life in television, film, and animation. I'm in love with making shit. That's just what I like to do. If I'm not doing that, I'm grumpy and hard to be around. As a filmmaker, I want to prepare excellent films that are representative of what I want to be able see. You have got to be selfish as a creative, because you can’t worry about pleasing the masses. My creations have to move my needle first — I can worry about everybody else later.


I want to amass a body of employment as a filmmaker that exists in the zeitgeist. Any time someone says the name “Spielberg,” we know what sort of production to expect. The same thing applies to Lynch, Lucas, or Abrams. Some of my main go to filmmakers have very specific voices and make very specific choices that define their crafts. That's what's very intriguing to me, and that's where I'd like to land.


MTV News: What legacy do you seek to leave with your art?


Brantley: I want my name to be called once it's dinner time. I don't pretend to know what lasting effect my work will have immediately after I'm gone, yet I know what it means to me while I'm here. I'd like to be said in conversation as one that did it, and did it well, and did it thoughtfully.