Sci-Fi, fantasy and horror on exhibit at JCAL

“Parables of the Unknown: The Art of Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror,” a free art exhibit curated by Zach Frater at the Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning’s Community and Miller galleries, kicked off last Friday with more than 100 attendees.

The showcase runs through March 1 and will also include an artist market, artist talk, and other vendors selling comics and original prints at JCAL’s first convention, JCon, on Feb. 3 and 17 from 12 to 6 p.m., said Frater, a program associate at the art center.

If interested in attending JCon, visit jcal.org/events-tickets. “Parables” itself is listed under the jcal.org/current-exhibitions.

“It was a process,” said Frater about the open call for submissions. “We got about 100 submissions and I narrowed it down to 15 to exhibit ... I just tried to choose works that exemplified the theme.”

Frater, a ’90s kid with family hailing from Jamaica, West Indies, said that he grew up on comics, video games and anime, hence the fantasy theme.

“For a while, I kind of left it behind and was like, ‘I kind of have to grow up now,’” he said. “But as I got older, I realized a lot of that stuff was coming back into fashion; it’s becoming very mainstream. There are artists who are also inspired by pop culture, so for me it was just a no-brainer. I’m into art and I’m into nerdy stuff. I’m just going to bring them together and show a different side of the art world that is less about art history ... like a Picasso.”

Leonard Jacobs, JCAL’s director, said the exhibit is the result of the center’s annual open call for art, which was paused during the height of the pandemic and returned last year.

“It’s been a long tradition of this institution, founded in 1972, having open call particularly for new artists, artists who have never shown here before,” Jacobs said. “We restarted this tradition a year ago and very shortly thereafter Zach joined our staff. Then we started talking about what will kick this up a notch.”

Courtney Ffrench, JCAL’s artistic director, told the Chronicle that he thought it was amazing to see so many people turn out for a fantasy exhibit despite the cold weather.

“The visionary aspect of it is very interesting to me,” Ffrench said. “I’m really impressed, this is very different ... this is fantasy and it allows your imagination to explore other things. It’s fun ... It opens you up far beyond the mundane of Monday, Tuesday, Friday work.”

The artists came out in full force with paintings, sculptures, prints, costumes, a comic book and a video displaying natural, dreamy, surrealistic, folksy and outer-space worlds, as well as work that featured sociopolitical and trans themes depicting women, minorities and the disabled as fantastic creatures, cosmic beings, superheroes and vigilantes.

The exhibit includes work from Khaila Batts, Atiya Brockington, Janet Bruesselbach, Areta Buk, Emily Chen, Paul Deo, Heather Dunn, Issa Ibrahim, Matt Johnson, David Marini, Marleen Moise, Omar Olivera, Christopher Spinelli, Tabitha Theogene and Rute Ventura.

Toward the end of the evening, some of the artists talked about their work.

Ventura spoke about several of her pieces, including “Disintegrated Trauma Projecting Shadows,” which features her as a superhero projecting her trauma, depicted as gremlins, on whomever is there to catch it.

“I use my image when I’m creating my paintings,” Ventura said. “That is due to reflecting moments of my own existence. I’m talking about existentialism ... I’m letting all the trauma go, releasing it, and hopefully I won’t have to deal with it coming back again.”

Some artwork features nudity and may not be appropriate for children.