Oh Ye of Little Faith: The Legend of Preacher Pinetar

is pleased to present the new work of artist, Christopher Burch, in his latest exhibition titled Oh Ye of Little Faith: The Legend of Preacher Pinetar, an exhibition of new mixed media works, reassembled found objects and a large scale narrative mural. The opening reception will be held on Saturday, September 13 from 7 pm to 11 pm. The exhibit will be on view through October 4, 2014 and is free and open to the public.

Oh Ye of Little Faith, will be Burch’s third installment of his ever evolving graphic narrative, The Missed Adventures of Br’er Rabbit and Br’er Death in the Land of Shadows. In this project, the trickster archetype is championed as an embodiment of ambiguity and ambivalence, calling into question fundamental assumptions about the way the world is organized and, at times, offering new ways of transforming it. Acting as the shadow, brother, teacher, and enemy and ally of the historical southern trickster figure of Br’er Rabbit, Burch’s own character Br’er Death, reveals that the trickster’s antics are never comedic, but rather serious gestures of resistance within a hostile environment. Burch not only re-contextualizes, but also remixes the Br’er Rabbit folklore with his own afro-surreal aesthetics.

Christopher Burch is an artist, events organizer, and educator based in San Francisco and St. Louis. After graduating from Columbia College in 2002, he went on to receive his MFA at the San Francisco Art Institute in 2008. From 2000 to 2002 he worked with The St. Louis Freedom Schools as a program coordinator and arts instructor and from 2004 to 2006 he worked as curriculum developer for the Center of Creative Arts (COCA) in St. Louis, where he created several year-long educational/residence programs within four St. Louis public schools. 2008 to 2009 he worked for the East Oakland School of the Arts (EOSA).

Burch has organized several ongoing underground music and community-building residencies in San Francisco such as the Gumbo Experiment and the Unbroken Circle. He is also a founding member of The Screwed Arts collective whose architecturally scaled improvisation wall drawings have been exhibited at the Regional Arts Commission in St. Louis, The World Chess Hall of Fame in St. Louis and The Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts in Grand Rapids, MI.