Panna Fresca | New Visual Arts Faculty Show
Panna Fresca, translated from Italian, means “Fresh Cream.” An apt name for the School of Visual Arts’ new faculty display at Penn State. Located in the Edwin W. Zoller Gallery, this exhibit highlighted selected works by new faculty in the School of Visual Arts. Featured faculty artists are:
My visit
I visited the gallery on the morning of September 12th. After beginning my writing journey, I’ve been parsing through various local community calendars (thanks WPSU!), Penn State art news postings, and official announcements looking for new ways I can immerse myself in the local art scene around Happy Valley. I went into the showing blind with no expectations or prior knowledge of the new faculty members’ work. It wasn’t until I arrived at the Zoller gallery that I learned who the new faculty members were. I also learned, upon arrival, that there is a gallery reception on the 24th of September. I think I’ll go back, hoping that I’ll be able to have a conversation with an artist or a few.
… and other stories
The installation that caught my attention immediately was displayed on the far wall of the gallery relative to the entrance.
I’m not well-versed in comic book canon, but I was drawn to this piece by Kumasi Barnett. At first, I thought these were genuine comic books. All of them, however, seem like interpretations of real comic book characters and series, but modified to say things like “The Amazing Black-Man” instead of “The Amazing Spider-Man.” After returning from the exhibit, I did some reading on this display, and the comic books are all hand-painted. In 2019, Barnett’s “The Amazing Black-Man” was housed at the Los Angeles-based contemporary art gallery Lowell Ryan Projects. From the gallery’s piece on this installation, I learned that Barnett used real comic books, but painted over recognizable characters like Spider-Man and Captain America. Instead, Barnett reenvisions their heroes and villains with subjects like “Cash in America,” and “White Fright.”
From the previously mentioned 2019 article on this installation:
A traditional comic book narrative is founded on a simple plot structure: there is a villain that the police cannot contain, and so a citizen superhero steps in to save the day. Barnett clearly complicates this narrative. In a genre filled with rigid tropes, his work is imbued with ambiguities: What kind of superhero is The Amazing Black-Man? In a society built on systemic racism, does his brown mask hide his identity or define it? Is his costume actually a costume? More importantly, what are his superpowers? How will he triumph over his foe?
This work raises many questions, perhaps some that I’d like to ask of Barnett now that he is a faculty member in the School of Visual Arts. I’ll certainly have to return for the reception.
Some other photos
Take a moment to preview some of the other works I captured at the Zoller Gallery’s Panna Fresca:
