Describing himself as an “American history painter,” Mark Thomas Gibson (b. 1980) draws inspiration from sources as wide-ranging as comic books, Renaissance paintings, and late 19th-century editorial caricatures. For his “Banner Project,” he created the largest-scale expansion yet of his Town Crier series, which builds on a tradition of collective address before the modern period, when “town criers” publicly announced laws and news.

Gibson began his series in 2021 as a way to digest and archive the politics of our fast-moving times. The Crier is typically rendered in graphic lines and ink washes and decked in Revolutionary-era clothing; his words blare like news headlines, matching the pace of endless digital “doomscrolling.” Here, unfolding over three banners that resemble the panels of a comic strip, Gibson’s handmade drawings compel visitors to slow down when reading. In many ways a stand-in for Gibson—a Black man, a history buff, and a concerned citizen—the Crier takes on the role of Paul Revere astride his horse, hanging on for dear life and while shouting a galvanizing message. The banners also feature Gibson’s take on the American flag—a striking reenvisioning that explores its symbolism, promise, and reality and implores reflection on American history.