Hebru Brantley - 20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale - Afternoon Session New York Thursday, November 18, 2021 | Phillips

20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale -...

New York Auction 18 November 2021

  • Hebru Brantley’s Skeptic (A Break from the Blues of Bad News), 2019, is being offered concurrently with the artist’s installation of The Great Debate at The Battery in New York. The Great Debate is a 16-foot sculpture that will be publicly displayed for a year beginning on November 14, 2021. This monumental piece features Brantley’s signature character, Flyboy, representative of the American spirit. 
    "This piece was born out of the past couple of years where the country [USA] has been at a political and socioeconomic boiling point...The statue was made to reflect the positive side of this strained period we have been traversing—that as Americans, no matter if we agree of disagree, the most beautiful thing is that we have the freedom to do so."
    — Hebru Brantley

    • Provenance

      Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner

    • Artist Biography

      Hebru Brantley

      Hebru Brantley consistently explores complex ideas around nostalgia, the mental psyche, power, and hope. Majorly influenced by the South Side of Chicago's AfriCOBRA movement in the 1960s and 70s, and growing up during the 1990s graffiti scene, Brantley employs the history of mural and graffiti art as a frame to animate his own unique perception of dark fiction. Brantley's challenges the traditional view of the hero or protagonist - his character, Flyboy, was born from the notion of creating a set of characters within a canon that existed alongside Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny and Batman, through this concept of dark fiction.  Brantley’s work and characters frequently explore American culture through a fun, afro-futuristic intent, projecting what will and what can be rather than what is, whilst celebrating the concept of the black leader. Flyboy and his universe, including characters Lil Mama and Phibby are often seen looking upward in heroic stances; they summon the viewer to optimism and hope. 

       
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367

Hebru Brantley

Skeptic (A Break from the Blues of Bad News)

signed, titled and dated "SKEPTIC (A BREAK FROM THE BLUES OF BAD NEWS ©) 2019–2020 Hebru Brantley HEBRU BRANTLEY" on the reverse
acrylic, ink and spray paint on canvas
42 x 44 in. (106.7 x 111.8 cm)
Executed in 2019-2020.

Full Cataloguing

Estimate
$30,000 - 40,000 

Contact Specialist

Rebekah Bowling
Head of Day Sale, Afternoon Session, New York
1 212 940 1250
rbowling@phillips.com

20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale - Afternoon Session

New York Auction 18 November 2021