If you're wrestling with a mental illness, why advertise the fight? For members of the Icarus Project, a New York-based collective of people with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and other conditions that society deems "crazy," it comes down to simple pride—Mad Pride. Founded in 2005, the network has grown to more than 8,000 activists—a budding grassroots movement aimed at changing the treatment and stigma associated with mental illnesses. Like Will Hall (right), a leader of the group profiled in our story this week, most "Icaristas" are pro-choice about medication, believing that an unquiet mind isn't a problem to solve with pharmaceuticals, but an opportunity for an uncommonly productive life. As Hall puts it, "We don't want to be normal." Just as some deaf activists prefer to embrace their disability rather than "cure" it with a cochlear implant, members of the Icarus community are out of the mental-health closet—protesting, pamphleteering and painting to help draw attention to their message. The following is a sample of their work, with artists' notes, from recent gallery shows in New York City.
