Draft:Hebru Brantley's Nevermore Park

Nevermore Park was artist Hebru Brantley's immersive art installation in the Pilsen neighborhood on the Lower West Side of Chicago, open from October 24, 2019, to December 29, 2019. The exhibition was a realization of the fictional neighborhood of Nevermore Park, the home of Brantley's recurring characters, Flyboy and Lil Mama. Brantley also focused on honoring Chicago history and emphasizing themes of community and black heroism.

Background

Brantley was born and raised in Chicago, and cites black graffiti art, Japanese animation, and comic book heroes as early inspirations. After earning a B.A. in Film from Clark Atlanta University, Brantley went on to work for various media and design companies, while simultaneously developing his personal art style. He began painting murals on the South Side of Chicago, often influenced by Afrofuturism and including his recurring characters. These murals gained widespread recognition, and Brantley's popularity skyrocketed. Today, his art can be seen and sold all over the world, and he has collaborated with brands such as Nike and Adidas, and visionaries such as LeBron James, Chance the Rapper, and Beyonce.

In 2018, Brantley had the idea to turn his old studio in Pilsen into an immersive walk-through experience that highlighted the recurring characters and themes of his murals and art installations. He wanted the project to be familiar, resembling a classic Chicago neighborhood such as Hyde Park or Morgan Park, but with an element of fantasy, one drawn from his comic book influences. He also wanted Nevermore Park to be accessible to people of all ages and backgrounds, especially the often overlooked local black families of Chicago. Said Brantley of the project in 2019:

"Nevermore Park is meant to be a fun, accessible, and invigorating experience for audiences of all ages to participate in a narrative-driven fine art installation... This project is about reclaiming history—both in the United States and the city of Chicago—through a lens that speaks to empowerment and giving agency to a historically disenfranchised community."

As plans materialized, Nevermore Park began to center around realizing the world of Brantley's characters, allowing visitors to experience a day in the life of Flyboy and Lil Mama. On October 24, 2019, the exhibition opened to the public.

Characters

The central characters of Nevermore Park, Flyboy and Lil Mama, are a young black boy and girl, respectively, with helmets and goggles resembling those of the Tuskegee Airmen, the group of African American military pilots who helped desegregate the armed forces during World War II. The Tuskegee Airmen have been recognized as an integral part of Black American culture, holding a dual history of fighting fascism abroad and racism at home. History has, in turn, immortalized the Airmen as a symbol of hope and resilience. Through these characters, Brantley combines the idea of black heroism with the childlike wonder of the comic strips that inspired his art early on, evident in Flyboy and Lil Mama's large, circular, black eyes and rounded, simple features.

The symbolism and iconography of Flyboy and Lil Mama became staples of Chicago popular culture. In the music video for his 2016 song "Angels," for example, Chicago native Chance the Rapper partnered with Brantley; the video begins with Chance flying through the city while wearing a jumpsuit and goggles resembling the Flyboy character design, and one of Brantley's murals is later featured in the background.

Exhibition

On initial entry, Nevermore Park appeared to be a normal art gallery, with Brantley's works situated on stark white walls. After a short walkthrough, however, the walls crumbled, and visitors were transported to the fictional neighborhood of Nevermore Park. Brantley wanted the exhibition to be highly interactive, with visitors more connected to the art than if it were displayed in a traditional art gallery. Said Brantley to CBS Chicago:

"This whole thing is meant to engage. Run through, touch, climb; the purpose of this is to put you in a world that has some familiarity to our own, but picks and pulls from different eras throughout history, particularly Chicago history... It's up to you to in terms of your level of engagement and how you want to navigate through the space."

Features

The oversized head of Lil Mama, as she appears in the interior of Nevermore Park

Pieces of Chicago past and present were present throughout the full exhibition. Viewers walked through a newsstand filled with Jet and Ebony magazines, black lifestyle publications based out of Chicago. Posters along the walls featured black musical legends from Chicago, such as Louis Armstrong and Mahalia Jackson. In the section of Nevermore Park resembling a modern day Chicago elevated train car, a vintage Pullman car sat at the very end, a nod to both the city's past and the 1894 Pullman Railway strikes. Sticking with the iconography of Flyboy and Lil Mama, one corner of the exhibit – a workshop full of cogs and tools – featured the flag and jackets of the Tuskegee Airmen.

Everything inside the exhibit was meant to be walked on, taken, or touched, including a large play area which, from its exterior, resembled the head of Lil Mama. Additionally, the "town newsstand" featured fictional Nevermore Herald newspapers, with a cover story on Flyboy, that visitors could bring with them.

While Nevermore Park certainly contained fantastical and Afrofuturist elements, it was at its core a love letter to the real neighborhoods and stories of Chicago. Said Forbes magazine of the exhibit:

"[Nevermore Park is] a place of beautiful graffiti, folks sitting on the corner sipping out of red Solo cups and vacant lots planted with prairie flowers... It’s touchable art with very specific cultural, and historical, touchpoints."

Reception

Nevermore Park received positive reviews from the community, and was covered extensively by local and national media. Initially scheduled to close December 1, 2019, the opening was extended to December 29 due to demand. Said Brantley to CBS Chicago about the extension:

"The City of Chicago has embraced Nevermore Park wholeheartedly. In return, and in time for the holidays, I want to make sure the youth who otherwise wouldn't have the opportunity to experience Nevermore Park, get to tour the home of Flyboy and Lil Mama."

Sticking with the emphasis on community building, Brantley also allowed Chicago Public School groups to visit Nevermore Park for free on Wednesdays in December.