Uncanny Juxtapositions by Kofi Bazzell-Smith
Exhibition Run: January 25 – March 24, 2023
Opening Reception: January 65, 4:30 to 6 PM
Artist Q&A: January 26, 5:30 PM
Artist Statement: Uncanny Juxtapositions features selections from two works I am drawing simultaneously with opposing themes. Each work was created with both English and Japanese versions.
A translation can radically change the voice and subtext of a story. Since I am both the creator and the translator of my works, I have full control of these choices and I am experimenting with telling versions of stories that may resonate in different ways with different audiences.
Azuki is a parody set in a world where Rock Paper Scissors is a serious martial art. Azuki only plays scissors every match but always wins as she embarks on a quest to reunite her family. The absurd story represents Black girl magic as reality comically bends toward Azuki’s will, speculating the potential of a world where race doesn’t exist. The pacing is whimsical, the scenes are comical, and the story is for all-ages. When we talk about Blackness in the arts and in the academy, it is often negative and painful. I want being Black to be seen as a fun adventure- and Azuki is my appeal.
Karasu is a drama about a man dealing with the death of his daughter- inspired by a Japanese folk song by Hako Yamasaki of the same name about crows kidnapping children. Grief and death are inevitable, and this story is about that realization. I use space and slow pacing to evoke 間(Ma)- a Zen concept prevalent in Japanese art and film meaning space (and time) to reflect. Ma is a narrative tool that highlights the absence of object(s) as the marker of attention. One becomes aware of what is not there– and contemplates.
Pairing pessimistic realism with positive and imaginative fantasy in this exhibition juxtaposes tragic elements of the human condition with the speculation of an unlimited future, creating a narrative in the space “between the panels” and highlighting the power of intercultural exchange as a vehicle for knowledge production.
Meet Kofi Bazzell-Smith
I am an artist, an MFA Candidate in New Media at the University of Illinois, and a professional boxer. I have always loved Japanese manga (comics), so I learned Japanese and travelled to Japan several times to study under professionals.
My central research question is: “How can the pursuit of an art form from another culture serve to produce new knowledge?” My work comes at the intersection of Japan’s efforts to globalize via popular culture and the recognition that comic studies is gaining in academia as a generative lens for examining socio-cultural phenomena. My goal as an artist-scholar is to champion these movements, publish manga in Japan, and pioneer teaching manga production in the United States- challenging the Eurocentric hegemony of art education.
I am interested in the pockets of culture that are created when globally recognized art forms like manga, jazz, and hip-hop are shared and expressed in new cultural contexts. Black music and dance flourish around the globe and I wish to explore how art expressed in new contexts creates new culture, and how opportunities for deeper human exchange can result from this sharing. What distinguishes my work as a Black mangaka is that I am deeply grounded in Japanese cultural knowledge and Japanese linguistics, and my interest in bringing unknown, undiscovered and unresearched materials to a larger global audience.