Where Do You Go When The Church Burns?
Where Do You Go When The Church Burns?
Where Do You Go When The Church Burns?
  • Load image into Gallery viewer, Where Do You Go When The Church Burns?
  • Load image into Gallery viewer, Where Do You Go When The Church Burns?
  • Load image into Gallery viewer, Where Do You Go When The Church Burns?

Where Do You Go When The Church Burns?

Open edition

Unframed

Print only, without a frame

Black frame

Square profile solid wood frame coated with black lacquer

White frame

Square profile solid wood frame coated with white lacquer

Walnut frame

Square profile solid wood frame with natural wood finish
Original medium: Spray paint on canvas
Print medium: Hahnemuhle Photo Rag
Total Price:
Regular price
£135
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£135
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Donation (included):

Includes donation and standard shipping within the UK (exact VAT and shipping amount to be calculated at checkout)

Description +-

The artist argues how the church has been seen as the bastion of Black mental health; a safe space to express one's feelings. Yet throughout history and even today, black churches are burned down, bombed, and attacked. This leaves many folks without an alternative. The direct link between mental health and the Black experience highlights racial injustices that extend from history into contemporary society.

"I explore these social commentaries, in particular the stigma of mental health especially as it pertains to African-American communities, which merits discussion based on recent racial tensions in the [US]. To examine Black mental health is to examine the effect of events in both the past and present, how patterns of suffering repeat themselves, and the burden of certain societal expectations." -Ryan Murray

Artist +-

Ryan Murray 

Through the unflinching medium of spray paint stencilling, the work of Ryan Murray unearths and examines the unsettling, but important, conversations on the stigma of mental illness. Murray aims to normalise the discussion and treatment of mental health in black communities. "To examine Black mental health," he says, "is to examine the effect of events in both the past and present, socioeconomic factors, how patterns of suffering repeat themselves, and the burden of certain societal expectations." 

By utilising repeated symbolism and autobiographical elements, his work not only seeks to address the reality and the reasons that people of colour suffer in silence more than their white counterparts, but urges him to navigate his own upbringing as an African-American struggling with mental illness in predominantly white community.

Murray has exhibited in numerous galleries and shows in western Massachusetts and has installed several murals in the city of Springfield, dealing with themes of food justice, community action, and Springfield's past as a stop on the Underground Railroad. He is a recipient of grants from the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, Artist Relief and Mass MoCA's Assets 4 Artists. Murray received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from Carnegie Mellon University in 2014 and is currently located in Springfield, Massachusetts. 

Donation +-

Based on our agreement with the artist, 15% of the pre-VAT price excluding frames will be donated to support the social movement. Donation will be given to Black Women's Health Imperative.

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