The Charlotte, North Carolina based collection of artists called God City has found success in carving out their own place in the art scene while remaining true to the characters and love of comics that drew many of them together in the first place.Self-described “fanboys at heart,” it’s safe to say that God City has made its reputation by using their collective talent to depict what they describe as urban, hip hop influenced graphic representations of super heroes and the comic book medium.The artists gathered at the recent Heroes Con, Wolly, John Hairston Jr. and Marcus Kiser, each presented a unique style that complimented the vision of the organization and each other’s work.For John Hairston Jr., God City grew out of a collective need for representation in an art scene that, individually, wasn’t working for them at the time. “About five years ago, a few of us were looking to pool our talents since back then when we would do shows together we would stick out like a sore thumb since our work is influenced a lot by comic books, graffiti, and hip hop, so we figured we would link up and do our own shows.”Hairston went on to say that they have been successful in showing Charlotte a scene that many in the Queen City may not have thought existed until now, a scene that’s been compared to what’s happening in bigger art cities like those in California and New York.”Toyetique” is a word that Hairston uses to help describe his work to those unfamiliar with these representations.”I use lots of bright colors, I look at action figures, Saturday morning cartoons, all of that to get the feel of my work.”More samples of Hairston’s work can be seen at his website, allcitystudios.com.Hairston’s colleague, the artist known as Wolly, shares some similar influences in his work, “I do a lot of
Rebel Star StudiosComic Books Meet Urban Sensibility: The Work of God City
The Charlotte, North Carolina based collection of artists called God City has found success in […]