Date/Time
Date(s) - 09/05/2019 - 02/29/2020
6:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Location
Spady Cultural Heritage Museum
Categories No Categories
Eroica, The Spady Museum’s Next Show, Explores Multi-Cultural Comic Book Superheroes and Their Power to Change the World
Funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, “Eroica” Runs Sept. 5-Feb. 29
Delray Beach, FL – June 20, 2019 – Thanks to the global marketing power of Disney, the world is well-acquainted with T’Challa of Wakanda, also known as Black Panther, depicted in the blockbuster 2018 movie by actor Chadwick Boseman.
However, what is known about Voodha or Lobo? Long before Stan Lee introduced Black Panther to his Marvel Universe, other comic book superheroes of color defended legions and fought off evil-doers.
On Sept. 5, 2019, The Spady Cultural Heritage Museum will explore the influence of multi-cultural comic book superheroes through “Eroica: compared to the rest of the world.” Funded in part by a $20,000 Art Works grant from the National Endowment of the Arts, “Eroica” will run through February 29, 2020, and will include several community events that will invite genre fans to have fun with the show.
The official exhibit opening and reception will be held from 6-8 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2019, at the Spady Museum, 170 NW 5th Avenue, Delray Beach, FL 33444. The museum also plans to have an interactive, community event on Thursday, October 31, 2019, in which guests of all ages will be invited to come as their favorite superhero.
During Black History Month, a movie series, showcasing films featuring multi-ethnic super hero characters, will be screened at the Spady Museum on February 20 and 21, and a festival is being planned for February 22. More details to come.
Eroica, the exhibit, will include examples of early comics that reveal the origins of super heroes of color, like Voodha, the first Black hero to appear in comic books, Crown Comics # 3 (1945). Voodha was created by artist Matt Baker, who was also one of the first and most successful Black comic book artists in industry’s Golden Age period. The exhibit will also re-introduce Lobo (1965), a western style Black hero, created by Dell Comics, whose presence during the Civil Rights period caused the publisher to cease its title after only two issues.
Eroica, which also means “heroic,” is a project curated by Khaulah Naima Nuruddin and william cordova that focuses on the representation of super heroes of color in different comic book publications since their origins in the late 1930s.
“Eroica will be an opportunity to engage people in conversations and reflections that deal with pop culture, iconic imagery, cultural representation, civil rights, modernism and history – all through the depiction of heroism in comic books,” said Spady Museum Director Charlene Farrington. “With the popularity of Marvel and DC comic book characters, now is a fantastic time to unpack the legacy and influence of cultural characters and what they meant to us then versus now, not to mention the artistry of the comic book drawings themselves.”
The Spady Cultural Heritage Museum is the only museum of its kind in Palm Beach County. Located at 170 NW Fifth Avenue in Delray Beach, it is dedicated to showcasing the African-, Haitian- and Caribbean-American cultural contributions to the artistic landscape of Florida and the U.S. Hours: 11 a.m. – 4 p.m., Monday-Friday; Saturday by appointment. Closed Sundays. Admission: $10; Members are free. For more information, call 561-279-8883 or visit www.spadymuseum.com
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