Tlacuilo

November 4 - January 28, 2023

Drawing 2022 to an end, 5 Points Art Gallery + Studios hosts its own visual art Comic-Con with the conjoined exhibition openings of "Eden Parq", and "Tlacuilo" [TLAH-KWEE-LOW], on Friday, November 4, 2022 6-9 p.m. (CST).

While Japanese graphic novels, anime and futurism have only recently become popular among black youth, artists, Allison Westbrook IV, Celeste Contreras, Kahlil Kasir, Malvy Westrbook and Manny Vibez, have always had a fascination with this comics, animation, and storytelling, genres deemed contradictory to their race and urban upbringing.

Hailing primarily from the Northside of Milwaukee, artists Manny Vibez, in his solo debut, "Eden Parq", and Celeste Contreras, Kahlil Kasir and brothers, Allison Westbrook IV and Malvy Westbrook in their collaborative exhibit, "Tlacuilo", showcase their love of all things manga, anime and illustration and give visibility, validity and a space for pigmented persons and personas through their practices and within their graphic creations.

5 Points Art Gallery + Studios hosts its own visual art Comic-Con with the group exhibition opening of “Tlacuilo” [TLAH-KWEE-LOW].

Personified through Japanese, European, Native and American influenced graphic stories, “Tlacuilo”, Nahuatl word meaning “painter, writer, bookmaker”, aims to expose BIPOC presence and excellence within the illustration and futurism genres and give visibility, validity and a space for pigmented persons and personas through their practices and within their graphic creations.

From providing euphoric and colorful intergalactic images (Malvy Westbrook), to documenting via minimalist graphite illustrations, the ardor and pain of ones disability and its effect on family dynamics (Kahlil Kasir), to visually journaling a personal quest to recover long-lost Indigenous practices, books, and other cultural relics (Celeste Contreras), to giving pigment-rich representation to the excluded black female character in comics (Allison Westbrook IV) each artist charts their own distinctive narratives, journeys and futures, utilizing contoured lines, selective pantones and griot codes within their visual stories, bringing their own personal spins to the traditional formats.

Visitors can journey through the illustrious multi-cultural illustrations of “Tlacuilo” until Sunday, January 29, 2023. 

Missed the opening reception artist talk? View here.