“Puffy”
Location: Museum of Boulder
2205 Broadway Boulder, CO 80302
2023 Street Wise x Black Love Mural Battle at [placeholder] festival
Photos by Max Brager, Leah Brenner Clack, and Dona Laurita
Take a closer look at Marcus Murray’s “Puffy,” a mural he created during the Street Wise x Black Love Mural Battle at [placeholder] festival in October.
A futuristic character appears in a teal void. The Black man wears lavender headgear and spikey sonic headphones over his ears. His lavender eyes pop against his dark skin as they peer out from triangular sci-fi glasses. A puffy jacket overtakes the majority of the space, zipping over him like armor and protecting the character from the cold outside world. Yellow puffs of air surround him, adding to the fantastical imagery of the mural.
In his art practice, Marcus creates compelling Afrofuturistic characters that serve as beacons of hope and reminders of a Black future. Afrofuturism explores the Black experience through a combination of science, technology, history, and fantasy. It centers Black history and culture to examine the past, question the present, and conceptualize an optimistic, liberated future.
Marcus takes inspiration from many different Afrofuturistic works. His favorites include the music of Sun Ra and his Arkestra, “Kindred” and “Parable of the Sower” by Octavia Butler, and the Black Panther movies.
You will find Marcus’s mural on view in the parking lot of the Museum of Boulder!