Hebru Brantley at Eastern Market, Detroit
Detroit

Detroit’s Eastern Market is one of the oldest and largest year-round markets in America. For the past 125 years, Eastern Market has nourished Detroit with local delicacies and fresh produce, providing an inclusive, resilient, and robust regional food hub. Eastern Market is also now becoming well known for it’s unique offering of public art with it’s second annual “Murals in the Market” festival underway.

Hebru Brantley, a nationally recognized artist out of Chicago, created this mural for the very first festival in Detroit last year. Inspired by original street art pioneers Keith Haring, Jean Michel Basquiat and Kaws, Brantley uses his art to push cultural boundaries. His work brings social issues to light through stories of youth and adventure – a purpose influenced by the Afro Cobra movement of the 70’s. The Afro Cobra movement celebrated African American cultural and intellectual heritage, empowering the city’s youth through bold murals for racial justice along the South Side of Chicago.

Brantley looks to offer a similar kind of optimism to today’s youth in a new format that can be described as pop art with a modern twist infused with Japanese anime. This mural, measuring 60 X 28 feet features his trademark “Fly Boy”cartoon modeled after a Tuskegee airman but with an African American descent.

Check out his website to learn more.

Brantley will be painting a new mural this September at the second annual Murals in the Market Festival on September 15th-23rd.

Medium: Spray paint, oil, acrylic and watercolor as well as non-traditional mediums like coffee and tea.