Quinta-VI

N’Dea Tucker, American

Quinta-VI, 2022

Within the promotional cover for N’Dea Tucker’s graphic novel, Quinta-VI, the experiences of Black and Brown communities are highlighted in the sci-fi adventure of Quinta. The graphic novel draws upon our current climate predicament, exploring how capitalistic consumption has stripped our planet of its riches while withholding such wealth from people of color. By drawing upon her personal knowledge of environmental racism in the Bronx, Yonkers, and Jamaica, Tucker demonstrates how the poisoning of a planet affects people of color differently and more directly in both worlds—our world and Quinta-VI's world. The graphic novel also illustrates the importance of involving individuals of color, such as Quinta, in efforts to combat the climate crisis. Label by Eliza Madison

Flint is Family Series

LaToya Ruby Frazier, American

Flint is Family Series, 2017

This photograph is a part of the series Flint is Family in Three Acts, which tells the story of a mother and daughter impacted by the Flint, Michigan, water pollution crisis. This photograph is a part of Flint is Family II, where the mother and daughter move in with family in Mississippi. The intimate connection between a mother, daughter, and the earth is striking in this black and white print. Frazier eloquently depicts the passing down of knowledge and the idea of reciprocity, revealing an idealistic view of how humans should interact with nature. The hands cradling pure water juxtaposes the Flint water pollution crisis, advocating for equal access to clean water for everyone, everywhere. Label by Bayleigh Albert

Greetings from Flint

indecline - COlabs / Flint Public Art Project, American

Greetings from Flint, 2017

On crumbling walls around Flint, Michigan, anonymous artists from the collectives indecline and COlabs working in collaboration with the Flint Public Art Project have been painting murals in an ode to the city, with the purpose of keeping attention on the effects of its notorious water crisis. This particular mural is formatted ironically like an actual post card titled “Greetings from Flint,” produced during the middle of the twentieth century. That original post card, like most examples of its kind, captured the most celebrated and memorable attractions in the area, but this new mural rendition includes an assortment of images alluding to the lead water crisis. Particularly compelling is the “I” in the center of the word Flint. The words “Flint Lives Matter” is drawn is the same manner as the Black Lives Matter symbol to call attention to how this majority Black community is historically marginalized and still experiencing slow violence. The mural is blunt, having poison symbols on the water tower and depicting brown water flowing from a tap. It confronts the viewer with the poison and the slow response in aid of the community. Label by Annabelle Marcais

For a video on the mural’s creation, see here: https://www.co-labs.us/indecline

NGC 3372C (Night Skies)

Matthew Brandt, American

NGC 3372C (Night Skies), 2016

Matthew Brandt’s NGC 3372C, from his Night Skies series, presents a white form made from cocaine against a dark, night-like background. He aims to describe the Flint water crisis: it is an issue of toxins which have been woven so deeply into daily life. Cocaine is extremely hazardous for the human body– possession and use are criminal offenses. In contrast, lead paint, which can also jeopardize human health, is more so overlooked by governmental powers especially in places with inadequate resources to assist themselves. People in Flint, Michigan, have to take it upon themselves to avoid using their tap water to try and save themselves. Brandt’s comparison of the lead crisis to cocaine poses the question of how we perceive danger at the individual and political level. Label by Grace Cohen