Hebru Brantley On Legacy, ‘Fields & Phantoms,’ And New Graphic Novel

Hebru Brantley has long been known for creating his own imaginative worlds, but with Fields & Phantoms, those worlds expand outward, becoming something viewers can physically step into. Debuting during Miami Art Week at the Miami Design District, the exhibition unfolded across two rooms, drawing from Afrofuturist language and the dreamlike aesthetic of The Wiz. It served as an environment of self-discovery, and signaled what Brantley sees coming next.

After stops in New Orleans, Monaco, Brazil, and New York, FRI&NDS touched down at Miami Art Week, this time with their most ambitious installation yet. Rather than a conventional gallery presentation, Fields & Phantoms >Flyboy graphic novel. When I spoke to him this past summer, he framed the book as a personal milestone. “This has been a long time in the making,” he said. “This is a big goal for 12-year-old Hebru.” Flyboy, a figure that has appeared throughout his paintings and sculptures, had never been given a written arc. Viewers projected their own interpretations, but Brantley had resisted defining an official origin story.

“Flyboy has never had a prescribed narrative,” he said. But for years, he built the world quietly around him—its history, language, politics, even what its people eat. The breakthrough came when trusted collaborators pointed out how complete that universe already was. “Then, I realized I was a lot further along than most people when they aspire to do something like this. I had everything mapped out, and I could answer the questions immediately.”

Brantley also described earlier experiments like Nevermore Park, where visitors entered Flyboy’s universe through physical environments rather than pages. “What does it feel like when instead of paintings on walls, you’re dropping people into an entire new environment?” he asked. “How they engage with it, and how they react… it’srel=”tag”>black art Hebru Brantley Miami art week

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