Ciaran Short

He | Him | His

New York, NY | Occupying the unceded lands of the Munsee Lenape peoples

Artist Statement

Coming from a background in community organizing and working with less traditional artistic mediums, my creative practice has been guided by the intention of making art more accessible. Past encounters with racism and biased policing heavily influence my practice. When creating, I aim to implicate my identity to add to the discourse surrounding race in America and foster necessary, restorative conversations. Since much of fine art is housed in predominantly white spaces due to access and privilege, my work is made with the intention of challenging and subverting the white gaze by forcing the viewer to acknowledge their role in the consumption of black art. Being a black man in America, I’ve grown accustomed to the increased visibility I have in certain situations and in my work I set out to materialize unspoken racial tensions, directly addressing underlying racism embedded within American traditions and values.

Ciaran Short, a young Black man, calmly looks at the viewer. — | **Image Description:** A self-portrait photo of Ciaran Short, a young Black man, in 35mm black and white film. Sitting in front of a light-colored curtain, Ciaran calmly looks at the viewer, wearing a short sleeve black t-shirt and thin chain necklace. |

Artist Bio

Ciaran Short is a black artist, writer, and activist born and raised in NYC. His work explores New York culture and tackles issues of race and masculinity. In 2019, he co-founded the All Street Journal, a protest group utilizing art to raise visibility and support the Black Lives Matter movement and housing justice in NY. With this group, he organized protests across the city using the creation of art as a focus to build community and make space for open dialogue and healing. The collaborative artworks made during their protests have been in exhibitions at the NY Historical Society and MOCADA. His writing has been featured in publications such as The Independent, Newsday, and Honeysuckle Magazine. He has most recently completed an artist’s residency with Localhost Gallery and partook in a photography installation at Cornell University. In the Spring of 2022, Ciaran opened an alternative art gallery and multipurpose creative space in East Village called All St NYC, located at 77 E 3rd St. He holds a masters degree in Media Studies from the New School.