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ray atlas

@ray__atlas

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We dream of a world not threatened by destruction

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Today I am thinking about a prayer that my family calls “in each and every generation.” In each and every generation, Jews should experience the Exodus as if we ourselves had just been liberated from Egypt along with the Jews of that time. For God did not only liberate our ancestors, but us, their descendants, as well.

Our oppression did not end with our liberation from Egypt. My grandfather, Jozef Atlas, watched his hometown of Rzeszów become a German-occupied ghetto in 1941. He worked in labor camps from 1943-44, at which point he was taken to Auschwitz-Birkenau. His train was intended for the gas chambers; an SS commander intervened because the men on the train could do manual labor. Camps were liquidated in 1945, and Joe was taken on a death march. He escaped in May.

The Torah codifies the Jewish commitment to justice imparted upon our ancestors in their liberation from Egypt. they vowed to remember their enslavement and retell the story every year. as we recall our liberation from slavery we are able to empathize with the plight of other peoples. we are taught to remember our experiences of oppression, and fight injustice wherever we are.

As we recall our oppression under Nazism, we must vow not to let our ancestors’ stories, their experiences, their wisdom, to be forgotten. We remember the violence of the past in dedication to protecting those who are oppressed. We must pray that our remembrance does not become fear, as Jewish fear is used before our eyes to justify the destruction of children, mothers, doctors, and journalists. We dedicate ourselves to a freeing of body and soul of all human beings, as our ancestors did before us.

We remember Hannah Senesh and Haviva Reik, who parachuted behind enemy lines in Hungary and Slovakia to organize resistance and rescue Jews. We remember Vladka Meed, and Chaika and Frumka Plotnitski, who served as courriers and smuggled arms for the ghetto fighters. We remember Rosa Robota, who organized the smuggling of dynamite to blow up a crematorium in Auschwitz. Chaika Grossman, Gusta Drenger, Zivia Lubetkin, Gisi Fleishman, Tosia Altman, Zofia Yamaika, Niuta Teitelboim. These are but a few of the names we know. by @ray__atlas

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2 years ago

My mural on 125th is finished! It represents four community members from @safehorizon, @fec_eastside_s.o.u.l, @gothamfoodpantry, and @nycommonpantry, as they participate in food distribution, an embroidery workshop, and street outreach. The QR codes are scannable and lead to these organizations’ resources. My hope in painting this mural was to honor the work done by these orgs while supporting community outreach and participation in their programs. Many thanks to these orgs for their meaningful work as well as @uptowngrandcentral for making this project possible! You can find the mural on 125th, between Lexington and 3rd Ave, for the next year.

U get a lot of photos from a lot of different angles because the fence is placed right next to a tree such that i cannot take just one picture of the whole thing. yay! by @ray__atlas

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a year ago

“Deaths in ICE Custody since January 2025,”cyanotype on decommissioned flag fabric from the Department of Homeland Security, 38 in. x ongoing.

This banner is an ongoing index of individuals who have died in ICE custody since the most recent presidential election, when ICE activity intensified across the US. The portraits are displayed in chronological order, with blank spaces left for those whose images are unfindable, and in place of mugshots or photos that were otherwise taken or published non-consensually. A QR code directs viewers to a open-access database tracking each individual’s public representation, details about where and when they died, and ways in which viewers might honor their legacy by responding to lasting needs (ie. fundraisers to support family members, legal cases, aid organizations). The book included in this installation displays the digital negatives used to print each portrait.

Each installation of this work has included a sign-up sheet for volunteers, as I plan to host a workshop to embroider the name of each individual represented in the banner with decommissioned Presidential thread. If you can sew and would like to help, DM me! If you already DM’d me, I’ll reach out the second I have a space to host the workshop.

Installation photos by @evastragephotography by @ray__atlas

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5 months ago

Aya Shaqalean needs your help. With heavy rains and colder weather quickly approaching, her family urgently needs to purchase tent covers (one tarpaulin costs around $60 in Gaza), along with food, milk, and diapers for baby Maria. Aya and Maria are both suffering from illness, and the family cannot afford the medical care they need.

Please donate through the link in my bio. I will mail you stickers (one made by Aya and one made by me, pictured on the last slide) if you DM me a screenshot of your receipt.

Image: work in progress, oil portrait of Aya Shaqalean, 9x12” by @ray__atlas

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18 days ago

It was an honor to serve as the Spring 2026 David Wojnarowicz Foundation Fellow.

My research focused on Wojnarowicz’s activist practice through archival research at @faleslibrary. Over the past seven months, I’ve shared a series of mini-essays from this research through @wojfound.

I’m excited to now share the publication of my long-form, illustrated research essay on the Foundation’s website, examining Wojnarowicz’s participation in Witnesses: Against Our Vanishing, the 1989 exhibition curated by Nan Goldin at Artists Space. You can read the full essay at the link in my bio via Linktree.

Thank you so very much to the David Wojnarowicz Foundation and Fales Library for the opportunity.

Slides 1-9: by David Wojnarowicz at Fales library
Slide 10: gouache portrait of Arthur Rimbaud by me by @ray__atlas

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a month ago

Thank you @boldjourneymag for the opportunity to talk about my practice.

Read the full article at the link in my bio. We discuss my work representing survivors of military and state violence, creating accessible resource guides, and the ways I strive to approach public art, mutual aid, and community engagement.

📸 @maggiezhangggg by @ray__atlas

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2 months ago

Your donations at Tompkins last weekend raised $152 USD for @aya.shaqalean! Thank you @womenofthepit for having me ❤️

I’ll be back on September 12, 2-6 pm with another free all-ages NYHC show (Bad Luck 13 / Silence Equals Death / TREE / Fuggitt / RBNX). See you then xoxo by @ray__atlas

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2 months ago

I’m thrilled to share that my writing has been published in this month’s Editors’ Selects in IMPULSE Magazine!

My piece looks at ESCAPE-VELOCITY, a current exhibition at @ghostmachine.nyc, which brings together four artists exploring our entanglement with technology, nature, and the ecological crises of the Anthropocene.

Read the full Editors’ Selects in @impulse_magazine_ (link in bio), and, if you’re in New York, go experience ESCAPE-VELOCITY at Ghostmachine before it closes August 29! by @ray__atlas

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2 months ago

I’ll be at Tompkins Square Park this Sunday, August 23rd, from 2–6 PM, vending for @aya.shaqalean at another free all-ages hardcore show!

Aya’s baby Maria was born safely last month, but she is suffering from the poor living conditions and lack of adequate nutrition in Gaza. All proceeds from my tabling sales go to Aya’s fundraiser.

Come dance and support! Bring school supplies for @womenofthepit’s school supply drive if you can 📚✏️

Thank you to @womenofthepit and @thenyhcchroniclespage for having me 🖤

BANDS: @sonicbombboston @worldofchaos.band @butterbrainnyc @mywarnyc by @ray__atlas

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2 months ago

Your donations at Tompkins this weekend raised $350 for @aya.shaqalean! Many thanks to @abcnoriopunkhc and The Shadow for having me. I’ll be back with @womenofthepit on August 23rd! by @ray__atlas

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2 months ago

Berlin in March —> Bushwick in July by @ray__atlas

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3 months ago

Find me this Friday at @palenquenyc with my dear friends UNIDXS POR VENEZUELA, a collective effort of artists, DJs, and creatives coming together to support those affected by the recent tragedy in Venezuela. These shirts will be available in a range of colors and sizes!

Proceeds from participating vendors, along with direct donations, will be donated to trusted organizations providing humanitarian aid and relief efforts for communities impacted in Venezuela.

Collectives: @_junto_ @coketazo.nyc @clubcarinx @makineomakineo @fresasalvaje.nyc @putiversonyc
DJs: @bandolover @ppxxcf @earflowers @juliocsrglz
@grunge.mum @lamejorbasura @xo.crushclub
Artists: @patgarciajr_ @stephano_eg @lil__lau
Vendors: @stelladicaro @miumiuinku @ray__atlas @bleachyval
Tarot reading @mrcatwhite
Flyer by: @serenasaintgermain

Thank you to everyone who’s helping make this possible.
We hope to see you there.

July 17
3pm-12am
298 Graham Avenue. by @ray__atlas

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3 months ago