SUPERPOWER

an MFA exhibition by Chad R. Penner

April 16-20, 2018

McMaster Gallery, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC

Superpower explores the relationship between the idea of American exceptionalism and America’s intimate relationship with and affinity toward violence.  Penner allegorizes these concepts in monumental drawings, using popular superheroes to function as symbols of an idealized America.  These superheroes epitomize the superhero genre’s emblematic theme of resolution through conflict, paralleling America’s own historical and cultural associations with violence.  Penner’s lifelong interest in superheroes and comics affords a lens through which to question cultural and racial violence in America.