CONTEMPORARY ART IN CONTEXT ARTIST Q&A What are some of the biggest influences on your work, including other artists, events, or things outside of the arts? Joel Christian Gill: I am a big fan of fantasy novels and hip hop. I also love the work of American cartoonists Frank King, Winsor McCay, Kyle Baker, and Box Brown. What is a typical workday like for you? JCG: It depends on the day. In the summer, I usually work full-time on books, and I start by drawing from the figure in the morning, then I will spend six to eight hours drawing. In some cases, I’ll spend the morning reading and doing research for projects. That usually requires looking up only newspapers or primary source documents from a subject’s time. Tell us about one of the biggest moments in your career. JCG: The biggest moment was when I first published Strange Fruit, Volume 1: Uncelebrated Narratives from Black History . I was at my very first book signing, and it was in a bookstore in Maine. When you draw comics, you expect people to come up to you and tell you that they like the way you draw or they like the way your color works or some aspect of the art. What you don’t expect is emotion. One of the patrons of the bookstore came up to me and had tears in his eyes and he said, “Thank you for telling these important stories.” That was really a turning point for me. It made me realize how important my work was. How did you go about researching unknown aspects of Black history for Strange Fruit ? JCG: Typically for the research and Strange Fruit , I try to find stories that no one’s ever heard of, and I usually try to stick with stories that are not Black first. Once I have a good idea for a story, I try to find primary source documents, which are documents from the time of the individual’s life. The reason I try to get as many primary source documents as I can is because I want to be accurate to what people were saying at the time, so I spent a lot of time researching that and I spent a lot of time in the library. If you read Fights , then you know that the library was my safe space growing up and that has not changed. I love the library, and there is nothing beyond your understanding if you have a library card and a will to learn. Could we look at Fights: One Boy's Triumph Over Violence as a universal theme? Does it address the larger issue of bullying beyond the Black community? JCG: Well, I think that primarily some of the issues that I dealt with in Fights were very specific to the Black commu-nity, specifically those ideas of racism and racist teachers, and teachers not understanding the cultural aspects of what it’s like to be a kid like me growing up. The universal theme is of the outsider, or just not fitting in. I spent a lot of time as a kid not thinking that I belonged (and if you read the book then you realize that it’s from a lot of reasons like trauma and abuse). But for the most part, I think that a lot of kids can deal with, or rather can understand, what it’s like to not feel like you belong anywhere. The universal message in Fights is that no matter what happens to you, no matter what your trauma, you can choose a different path; and you don't have to let the trauma define you. DISCUSSION Ask students to name a popular film or TV show that was based on a memoir or autobiography. Ask them to identify common themes or events that are found in these stories, such as identity, overcoming tragedy, family drama, transi-tion from childhood to adulthood, etc. Then share examples of Joel Christian Gill’s autobiographical and historical comics. Discuss Gill’s background and how he focuses on personal, social, political, and historical events that have impacted his life. After some discussion, ask students to consider what important personal or historical events they might want to illustrate and why. STUDIO EXPERIENCES • Create an artwork based on a true story from your life. • Create a portrait of one or more people in your life—some-one you have known for a long time. • Create a series of images in a narrative format such as tra-ditional comics, experimental comics, photonarrative, or animation based on a real-life experience that happened to you or to someone you know well. • Create a narrative in the media of your choice that tells the story of a moment in American or world history that is important to you. How can the stylistic choices you make help communicate your feelings about the event? Written by Karl Cole, Art Historian and Curator of Images at Davis Pub-lications, and Robb Sandagata, Digital Curriculum Director and Editor at Davis Publications. kcole@davisart.com, rsandagata@davisart.com RESOURCES Artist Website: joelchristiangill.com Drawing Process Video: bit.ly/jcgdrawingprocess Joel Christian Gill, cover illus-tration for Fights: One Boy's Triumph Over Violence , 2020. Image courtesy of the artist. 26 SEPTEMBER 2021 SchoolArts
School Arts Magazine September 2021: Page 26
