A Safe Space, 2023

Jamaal Durr

Jamaal Durr is a contemporary artist whose work explores the tension between vulnerability and resilience. Drawing from personal experiences with family separation, fatherhood, grief, and community mentorship, his paintings examine the ways people learn to carry pressure, uncertainty, and inherited burdens while continuing to move forward. Through figurative imagery that blends realism and surrealism, Durr creates visual spaces where composure and chaos coexist. His work often reflects on Black boyhood, identity, emotional survival, and the invisible weight people carry throughout their lives. Whether depicting children navigating the early stages of becoming or adults confronting the complexities of responsibility, Durr's work asks a central question: How do we remain whole while carrying things that could break us? His ongoing body of work, Don't Panic, continues this investigation, exploring the quiet discipline of maintaining oneself in the face of pressure, uncertainty, and change.