Michael Brantley inside his studio in the old Kansas City Kansan building. (photo by Jim Barcus)
Despite challenges posed by a debilitating disease, the talented African American oil painter persists in his mission to uplift the culture of Black America
Last spring, I conducted an event titled “Courage and Creativity,” and we discussed the stories of multiple artists such as Crystal Major, Mark Cook, Crissi Curly and Trey Loomis.
It was emotional.
Tears were shed.
At one point, I wept, and reporter J.M. Banks of the Kansas City Star stepped up and finished reading what I had been attempting to read.
Knowing the backstories of these artists made their work even more compelling.
One Saturday in July, I viewed Michael Brantley’s exhibition “JAZZOPIA” at Habitat Contemporary gallery. I missed his art talk. I intentionally waited until late afternoon when Robert Gann, the progressive-minded director and curator of Habitat, had left to run his errands.
I didn’t want to share this moment.
Yep, I was a selfish bastard that day.
So, it was just me and the work of esteemed Kansas City artist Michael Brantley in the silence of a hot July Saturday afternoon. His shading, formation of shape, balance and overall aesthetic are solid. Brantley’s work is the kind of work that must be collected and installed where one can sit and bathe themselves in its luminescence again and again.
“I am a multi-disciplinary artist living and working in Kansas City,” Brantley says in his artist statement. “My work is a collection of paintings that reflect and celebrate the lifestyle, heritage, and culture of American Africans. I am a figurative artist working with oil paint as the preferred medium. Working mainly with the figure I create art that inspires, informs, and provokes dialogue.”
Brantley, a member of the African American Artists Collective, is a talented and gifted oil painter. His brushstrokes resonate with an aesthetic precision and visual purpose that embody that of the Old Masters. His choice of subject matter reflects a deep sense of homage to the canon of Black art and the creative philosophy of Alain Locke’s New Negro. Like the artists of the Harlem Renaissance, he uses his work to uplift the culture of Black America.
In his statement for the exhibition, Gann says, “These works are essential to the canon of the Kansas City music scene, especially considering that we are a UNESCO City of Music rooted in jazz. Icons emerge from the canvas, including Charlie “Bird” Parker, Lester “Prez” Young, and Coleman “Hawk” Hawkins, with such attention to detail that nostalgia becomes visually tangible.”
In the last decade, Brantley’s art has been featured by the NFL and exhibited at both the American Jazz Museum and The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.
His backstory tells us just how amazing his trajectory has been.
Staying on mission despite a debilitating disease
Nearly a decade ago, Brantley was diagnosed with sarcoidosis, and the Affordable Care Act failed him. An article in the Kansas City Star went into detail about the failings of the system, even though Brantley had done his part.
According to the Mayo Clinic, sarcoidosis is a disease characterized by the growth of tiny collections of inflammatory cells (granulomas) in any part of the body — most commonly the lungs and lymph nodes. But it can also affect the eyes, skin, heart and other organs. It’s the same disease that contributed to the death of comedian Bernie Mac and claimed the lives of actor Michael Clark Duncan, NFL Hall of Famer Reggie White and soul singer Sean Levert.
According to the Oxford Academic, in the United States, sarcoidosis has been reported to be 10 to 17 times more common in African Americans than Caucasians.
Sarcoidosis is brutal to Black men; sarcoidosis is especially brutal to Black women. The Boston University’s School of Public Health conducted a Black Women’s Health Study that revealed that not only are Black women in the U.S. three times more likely to develop sarcoidosis than white women and white men, but they also have a 10 to 18 times higher hospitalization rate and 12 times higher mortality rate.
For Brantley, his sarcoidosis diagnosis was a devastating setback. His trumpet painting at the American Jazz Museum had positioned him for a big break in the competitive world of fine art painting.
“Then I ended up getting sick, and I can’t do nothing with it.” Brantley told the Kansas City Star.
The years since have been an on-again, off-again battle with sarcoidosis and its symptoms, arthritic pain and threatened eyesight.
He’s battled with the health system also. Finding and keeping insurance has been a struggle. Obtaining health care and treatment without insurance is nearly impossible.
Despite it all, Brantley stays on mission and is in his studio daily after breakfast on Minnesota Avenue.
He is a true painter.
A true professional.
A true artist.
And now that you know the backstory, he is also an artistic hero.
Even as he faces life’s deepest challenges, Brantley’s work reflects and celebrates the lifestyle, heritage and culture of American Africans.
Reflection
Celebration
His name is Michael Brantley.
His studio is in Kansas City, Kansas.
“Seek and ye shall find.”
