About this Event
Artist Mark Thomas Gibson processes the daily onslaught of news in his Town Crier series, sounding the alarm on our fraying democracy and using art as an urgent call for citizen action.
Join WXXI for a FREE screening of this short film followed by a discussion with the artist Mark Thomas Gibson and film director Grace Lee, moderated by CITY Magazine editor Leah Stacy.
More about the film:
As America hurtles towards the 250th anniversary of its founding, TOWN CRIER is a short documentary film that examines the role of the artist in our complicated times. How do artists sound the alarm when the world is on fire? When society is in crisis and leaders fail to deliver, can artists hold us to account for our actions? Or for our inaction? American history painter Mark Thomas Gibson began his "Town Crier" series in 2021 in response to the cultural and political storm following Covid and the M**der of George Floyd. These single-panel images were in a graphic, pen-and-ink comic book style and featured a Black man in colonial-era garb announcing the headlines of the day. Christmas, 2021, for example, began “Hear ye, hear ye! Ho! Ho! Ho! We have Joe Manchin problems! We have pandemic problems! We have voting rights and student loan problems! Often published on Instagram, these cartoons hearkened back to the Revolutionary War days of Paul Revere sounding the alarm "The British are coming! The British are coming!"
Since 2024, Gibson’s series and messages have taken on an urgency and greater frequency with regular Instagram posts using the handle @darthgibson. He has also incorporated several town criers into the "Banners" series recently on view at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
TOWN CRIER was shot on location in Philadelphia and Miami.
Agenda
🕑: 07:00 PM - 08:45 PM
TOWN CRIER screening + disucssion
Info: The screening will be followed by a discussion with the artist Mark Thomas Gibson and the director/producer Grace Lee, moderated by CTY Magazine's editor Leah Stacy.
Event venue & nearby stays
The Little Theatre, 240 East Avenue, Rochester, United States
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