Esse Quam Videri Project

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 Check out the self portraits at http://www.muslimselfportrait.info  

 

“Todd Drake has designed a uniquely creative and sensitive project in which Muslim North Carolinians express their identities through photography. It is a compelling and powerful demonstration of the potential of art to humanize us to each other.”

        Carl W. Ernst  

       William R. Kenan, Jr., Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies, UNC

       Director, Carolina Center for the Study of the Middle East and Muslim Civilizations

 

Overview

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PRESS & REVIEWS:

 Art and Activism by Tina Firesheets

Strangers Influence Art by Jane E. Whitehorne

What Happens Back Home by Mark Derewicz

 

“…I am stopped cold by a large, colorful mural created by Greensboro’s Todd Drake. He said the mural was inspired by pencil drawings contributed by Triad residents. The drawings exist on the wall below the mural and are fun to study in their sheer variety. But it’s also cool in another sense: Drake has used this collaborative approach with Alzheimer’s patients, clubgoers in night clubs and cashiers at local businesses, and I believe he’s breaking down artist and community barriers.”

- Keith Buckner, ‘Drawn/Quartered’ challenges art’s meaning, review of SECCA show, News and Record, May 13, 2004

 

Return of the Bugger Man

Painting created in collaboration with the community of Cherokee, North Carolina. From the et al series.

 

 

Listen to my recent WUNC State of Things interview on my new book, Give Me Eyes-Crossing borders to the heart.  

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Go here to see the ENGLISH version

Art defines us as being human. I make art to remind us of our shared humanity.

Working with Muslim-Americans in my community I am creating a website, book, and exhibition that shares the self-portraits of Muslim-Americans with the wider society. Click here to view my blog on this project.

 

 

UPCOMING PRESENTATIONS & SHOWS:

Bridges to the Other: Creative linkages of community and art.

Artist and Rockefeller fellow Todd Drake creates works of art that are intimately shaped by “strangers.” He has worked with, among others; long distance truck drivers, undocumented immigrants, exotic dancers, refugees, US and Iraqi Soldiers, Muslim-Americans, and Alzheimer patients.  In his presentation Drake will share how he reaches out to these often over looked or misunderstood communities and involves them in his own creative process. From paintings to scavenger hunts, to photography, installations, and picture books, Drake uses a wide rang of media and creative approaches to make art that builds bridges. His unique path invites others to cross to a place of greater understanding, less fear, and a strengthened sense of shared humanity.

 Creativity- Worlds in the Making at Wake Forest University.

Time and Date TBA