University YMCA · 1001 S. Wright St., Champaign, IL 61820
Visit universityymca.orgKofi Bazzell-Smith, a second-year MFA candidate in New Media and professional boxer, spoke in connection with his Art @ the Y exhibition in the Murphy Gallery (Aug. 15-Oct. 22, 2022). He traced his path from high-school dropout and boxer to Mellon-funded interdisciplinary fellow, described the step-by-step process of making a manga page, and recounted a summer research trip to Japan meeting publishers, manga schools and veteran mangaka. He argued that the Black manga movement extends Afrofuturism, and closed with audience Q&A on teaching publicly and on race in anime imagery. He was introduced by a University YMCA board member and art professor.
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