Marshall, widely considered one of America's greatest living painters and inspired chronicler of the African American experience, has sought to diversify the art historical canon. In the late 1990s, he began working on a series of comics in response to the absence of authentic black characters and authors in the mainstream. Marshall's comic offers an alternative reality focused on the main character, Rythm Mastr, and his young protégé, Farell, superheroes whose powers derive from the seven gods of the Yoruba pantheon. Marshall's characters debate history, philosophy, and politics in vernacular black English using the graphic novel medium to create an empowering, utopian blend of science fiction and Afrofuturism. Initially serialized in a daily newspaper and presented as a Carnegie International installation, it has appeared in various incarnations over the past two decades, including light boxes, paintings, graphic prints, and drawings. This volume is the most comprehensive look at the character, its genesis, and its evolution.
| ISBN: | 9780847835614 |
| Publication date: | 30th September 2025 |
| Author: | Michele Robecchi |
| Publisher: | Rizzoli Electa |
| Format: | Hardback |
| Pagination: | 208 pages |
| Genres: |
Individual artists, art monographs |
Marshall, widely considered one of America's greatest living painters and inspired chronicler of the African American experience, has sought to diversify the art historical canon. In the late 1990s, he began working on a series of comics in response to the absence of authentic black characters and authors in the mainstream. Marshall's comic offers an alternative reality focused on the main character, Rythm Mastr, and his young protégé, Farell, superheroes whose powers derive from the seven gods of the Yoruba pantheon. Marshall's characters debate history, philosophy, and politics in vernacular black English using the graphic novel medium to create an empowering, utopian blend of science fiction and Afrofuturism. Initially serialized in a daily newspaper and presented as a Carnegie International installation, it has appeared in various incarnations over the past two decades, including light boxes, paintings, graphic prints, and drawings. This volume is the most comprehensive look at the character, its genesis, and its evolution.
Kerry James Marshall - Rythm Mastr, This Is How It Begins features in the following genres: Individual artists, art monographs
Kerry James Marshall - Rythm Mastr, This Is How It Begins is available in Hardback
Kerry James Marshall - Rythm Mastr, This Is How It Begins was written by Michele Robecchi and published by Rizzoli Electa
Kerry James Marshall - Rythm Mastr, This Is How It Begins has 208 pages