Books
“30% of Buffalo... is Functionally Illiterate”
Year(s): 2006-09/2010
Numbered edition: 1250 / 44 full colour pages, offset printed interior / 3-colour letter pressed covers with tipped-in image / saddle stitch binding
Publisher: Booklyn Artists Alliance (Brooklyn without the "r") in Brooklyn, New York.
The 8th book in Booklyn's American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) award-winning Another Booklyn Chapbook (ABC) series. This bookwork was made possible by a generous donation from the Jerome Foundation. Signed copies upon request.
$25 USD
Charmaine Wheatley is a performance artist who has turned increasingly to drawing and painting of a narrative nature. "30% of Buffalo" features intimate portraits of adult learners and tutors from Literacy Volunteers of Western New York and Erie County whose stories provide insight into how the ability to read can impact lives.
One in three residents of the City of Buffalo is functionally illiterate. On a national level, between 41% and 44% of adults with the lowest literacy skills live in poverty. 60% of prison inmates are illiterate. 76% of adults on public assistance are illiterate or unable to read more than the simplest of texts.[1] Given these startling statistics, illiteracy is undoubtedly a matter that affects not only individuals, but our entire society. Graphic novels are affordable, portable, and thereby an accessible format for establishing collective awareness and heightened visibility of artwork.
Captured through Wheatley's sequential drawings of "life observed" at Literacy Volunteers are the socially devastating realities of illiteracy and its interrelationship with levels of freedom, self-esteem, poverty, and crime. Beyond this expository function, the book serves as an emotive testament to our ability to listen and empathize with one another's personal experiences through recognition of our universal contention for survival or, as the artist describes, "that feeling that makes us go RAWR."
Written by Cori Wolff - Curator of Buffalo Arts Studios Galleries, Buffalo, NY
[1] Literacy Volunteers of Buffalo & Erie County, Inc. "Literacy Facts and Resources." 2009
"BEAU FLEUVE: The Heart of North America" by Charmaine Wheatley
After receiving a generous grant from the Canada Council for the Arts, I went to “Beau Fleuve” to perform a 3 month residency. I met with organizations and locals to execute a portrait of Buffalo - as a place and a people. My outsider's bird's eye perspective was an asset to recognizing the most notable parts of present day Buffalo. I was a tourist visiting a place and forever commenting: in Manhattan, it's different. We don't have Tim Horton's. When we order a "regular" coffee, we mean whole milk, not cream. Canadians more commonly put cream in their coffee. Buffalo's location, on the Canadian border, includes a collection of details that define it as unique. "Beau Fleuve: The Heart of North America" concentrates on painting a
portrait of Buffalo but also situates this place within other parts of New York, the United States and Canada.The idea for me to come to Buffalo and do this work was curator, Sandra Q. Firmin's. She, with Ellen Ryan, at The Carnegie Art Center in North Tonawanda masterminded this residency & exhibition.
In 1997 I moved to New York City, developing a habitual practice of drawing. Painterly performance based drawing that has evolved into a comic strip format. It's a productive way to justify hanging out. Being up close with people and record timely situations, without high-technology. Humour emerges throughout the comic book even if I am representing a heavy moment.
Drawing from life, I sometimes take pictures to later use as source material but rarely do I finish those stories. Think of my comic stripping as a series of time based portrait narratives, performance residue. Stretching the boundaries of a comic book, performance, portrait drawing, painting and I will also argue it is sculpture. It is not one of those media but all folded into together. My drawings prove that something took place, somewhere. I record as many details as possible to create a more accurate portrait narrative. I draw small and portable and print at a 1:1 ratio. I always have my tiny Schminke watercolour set, pens and paper with me. Visible only in the original artwork is the texture of old school, anti-tech artmaking methods: cutting paper; collaging; letraset; gouache; masking tape additions; dabs of beet soup for plum shades; splotches of curry or glitter pen for gold colours... I use whatever on-hand materials, to urgently depict as much honesty as possible for fleeting moments in time. I try to underscore all my efforts with light hearted compassion.
It seems like almost immediately, I develop an intimate rapport with people. Quickly we find ourselves laughing and crying even though we've just met. Drawing the Wild Bill comic strip has dredged up many feelings and fears. I appreciate my lady friends who have shared some girl talk. Revealing snippets of being in relationships and the accompanying struggles, putting themselves out there. I relate to the process. It's all history but it's recent past tense, which can make it challenging for them to have these words come out of their mouths before the possibility of your judgment. Within this comic, I have just scratched the surface of personalities. Wild Bill makes me think of all the ways that I need to stamp out my own racism, sexism, ... I do not believe it is productive to say my racism is less hurtful than Wild Bill's because it seems smaller, more hidden to me... fear and ignorance is damaging. Society is patriarchal, classist, sexist, racist. I am easily influenced. Attitudes have crept into my subconscious. The problem of racism is not "Theirs", it is Mine too and I am accountable for my part in contributing to the madness. Everyday I try to develop heightened levels of awareness to dissolve my ignorance.
I am impressed with how we can laugh and cry simultaneously. Happiness and sadness can coexists, resulting in tears and smiles. How many times I have been fortunate enough to share this kind of moment with others. My mom always said: "laughing leads to crying" but I find that crying ends up in laughing out of necessity. No matter how grave a moment and especially if a situation is extremely grave, then laughing becomes all the more important. I started making comics out of a sense of justice. Feeling like I had no voice, frustrated with the political climate, I thought a comic book with the potential of thousands of readers worldwide, could be a way to share my questions and as an alternative platform for accountability. I thought that putting my drawings in the printed format, would be the best vehicle for speaking up and out. Before I let go of notions of good and bad, I thought it was bad that I got called "too sensitive". I wonder if others are calling me "too sensitive", perhaps it is they, who are not sensitive enough?
“30% of Buffalo” $25 USD
"BEAU FLEUVE: The Heart of North America" $12 USD
Contact: charmainewheatley1@gmail.com