Stacey Robinson, Assistant Professor, Graphic Design
Black Kirby is a creation of Stacey Robinson and John Jennings (Professor of Media and Cultural Studies, UC Riverside). Black Kirby’s work references the popular culture contributions of comic book artist Jack Kirby, in evolving conversation with Afrofuturism, struggles for social justice, and the politics and poetics of Hip Hop. This collection of work samples from Kirby’s style but also remixes it with the formal and conceptual influences from many other artists, pop culture, and artistic expressions. In a sense, Black Kirby uses the comics medium as a conceptual crossroads to examine identity as a socialized concept through bricolage, pastiche, oppositional juxtapositions, and deconstruction. Stacey Robinson will show and decode some images of this stunning artwork, and provide context on the art of Black Kirby, as well as what informs his own creative process.
Stacey Robinson is one half of the collaborative team Black Kirby with artist John Jennings, for which Stacey creates graphic novels, gallery exhibitions, lectures, and workshops that use world-building strategies to imagine new worlds inspired by Design, Hip-Hop, the Arts and Sciences, and diasporic African belief systems. His latest graphic novels are, ‘I Am Alfonso Jones’ written by Tony Medina (2017) is available from Lee & Low Books, and ‘Across the Tracks: Remembering Greenwood, Black Wall Street, and the Tulsa Race Massacre’, written Alverne Ball (2021) is available from Abrams Books. For the last several years he has traveled internationally discussing the complexities of decolonized future spaces.
Please note - The location of this SAS has been moved from Bevier Hall to the CHP House Classroom.
*If registration is full, email chp@illinois.edu to be added to the waitlist.
