Damien Davis
Bio/CV: Damien Davis (b. 1984) is a Brooklyn-based artist, born in Crowley, Louisiana and raised in Phoenix, Arizona. His practice explores historical representations of blackness by seeking to unpack the visual language of various cultures and question how these societies code/decode representations of race through craft, design and digital modes of production. His work has appeared at The Whitney Museum and Museum of Modern Art, as well as METHOD Gallery in Seattle, and Biagiotti Progetto Arte in Italy. He is the recipient of the Rema Hort Mann Foundation Community Engagement Grant and has been awarded residencies with the Museum of Arts and Design, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, and Pilchuck Glass School. Mr. Davis is also a former fellow and current advisor for the Art & Law Program in New York City. His work has been mentioned in the New York Times, Frieze Magazine, The Guardian, Hyperallergic and Vulture Magazine.
Artist Statement: Damien Davis explores historical representations of blackness by seeking to unpack the visual language of various cultures and to question how these societies code and decode representations of race. Using digital tools to shape layers of materials both natural and synthetic, Davis composes stories, told through a lexicon of graphic figures and shapes, that oscillate between the personal memories of the artist and chapters of human history. Through usage of materials Davis exploits the seductive and subjective beauty of color and the power of color as a metaphor, Davis creates a deceptively appealing space for confronting bias and dehumanization in contemporary society.
Selected Solo Exhibitions: 2021 Ivory Towers Were Made by Somebody, 55 5th Ave, New York, NY, That John Henry Thing, Allen Priebe Gallery, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, Oshkosh, WI, Frieze New York Viewing Room (Online solo presentation), Mrs. New York, Weightless, Mrs. Maspeth, NY. 2020 Hard Line Fade. Charlie James Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, Benefit Suite, Mrs. Gallery, Maspeth, NY, From Philly by Way of Richmond, With Love. (Selections from Damien Davis: Color Cargo), Adelphi University, Garden City, NY, COLLAPSE: Black Wall Street Study, Weeksville Heritage Center, Brooklyn, NY, Día de Playa, Mustakis Foundation, Santiago, Chile. 2019 COLLAPSE: Black Wall Street Study, Untitled Art Fair (Solo booth), Latchkey Gallery, Miami, FL, For Demetrius, Sugar Hill Children's Museum of Art & Storytelling, New York, NY, Color Cargo, (Traveling exhibition) The Center For Art In Wood, Philadelphia, PA. & Visual Arts Center of Richmond, Richmond, VA, Autoethnography, Goggle Works Center for the Arts, Reading, PA. 2018 This Ain’t No Disco, Latchkey Gallery, New York, NY, Fun With A Purpose, Prattsville Art Center, Prattsville, NY, Waiting Room: Sickle Cell Study, Broadway Windows @ 80WSE Gallery, New York, NY. 2017 White Room, METHOD Gallery, Seattle, WA. 2016 OBJECT | AFFECTION, Black Ball Projects, Brooklyn, NY.
Selected Group Exhibitions: 2021 QUE(e)RY, Latchkey Gallery, New York, NY, 100 Sculptures - NYC, Anonymous Gallery, New York, NY. 2020 Uptown Triennial 2020, Wallach Art Gallery at Columbia University, New York, NY, Gay Guerrilla, Arcade Projects, New York, NY. (Online exhibition), Assembly, Mrs. Gallery, Maspeth, NY, Inside Art, Children’s Museum of Manhattan, New York, NY. (Curated by David Rios), Dissolving Artifacts, Studio 200, Brooklyn, NY. (Curated by Aubrey and Lara Saget) 2019 Damien Davis & Lina Puerta, Ille Arts, Amagansett, NY, Serious Play: Translating Form, Subverting Meaning, BRIC, Brooklyn, NY, 2019 NLE Lab: (after)care, Kings County Hospital Center, Brooklyn, NY, Race and Revolution: Still Separate - Still Unequal, (Traveling exhibition) August Wilson African American Cultural Center, Pittsburg, PA.(Curated by Kathryn Fuller and Larry Ossei-Mensah), Race and Revolution: Reimagining Monuments, Old Stone House, Brooklyn, NY. (Curated by Kathryn Fuller), Human-Nature, Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Brooklyn NY. (Curated by Erika Ranee), Untitled, Kravets Wehby Gallery, New York, NY. 2018 Cit.i.zen.ship: Reflections on Rights, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Department of Photography & Imaging, New York, NY, In the Future When..., Welancora Gallery, Brooklyn, NY. (Curated by Daricia Mia Demarr), Pink is A Color That Feels Like Love, Stamp Gallery, University of Maryland, College Park, MD. (Curated by Katy Scarlet), ReSignifications: The Black Mediterranean, Manifesta Biennial, Palermo, Italy. (Curated by Awam Amkpa & Ellyn Toscano), BLACK BLOODED, The New Gallery of Modern Art, Charlotte, NC, PATTERN RECOGNITION, SPRING/BREAK Art Show, New York, NY. (Curated by Jessica Wallen), Race and Revolution: Still Separate - Still Unequal, (Traveling exhibition) University of Connecticut at Stamford, Stamford, CT. (Curated by Kathryn Fuller and Larry Ossei-Mensah) 2017 12 x 12, 2017, Black Ball Projects, Brooklyn, NY, Convergence: 2017 NYU All Alumni Artist Exhibit, NYU Kimmel Galleries, New York, NY, Race and Revolution: Still Separate - Still Unequal, (Traveling exhibition) Smack Mellon, Brooklyn, NY. (Curated by Kathryn Fuller and Larry Ossei-Mensah), Published By The Artist 2017, International Print Center New York, New York, NY. (Curated by Grayson Cox and Angela Conant), Sine Gallery: Berlin, Sine Gallery, Berlin, Germany, The MYSYSYPYN, Nemeth Art Center, Park Rapids, MN. (Curated by Matthew Schum), Oneness, Harlem School of the Arts, New York, NY. (Curated by Jonathan Patton), jux·ta·po·si·tion, New York University, Rosenberg Gallery, New York, NY. (Curated by Lonnie Woods) 2016 12" x 12", Black Ball Projects, Brooklyn, NY, Why I Want To Fuck Donald Trump, Joshua Liner Gallery, New York, NY. (Curated by Alfred Steiner), Erote, The Hollows Artspace, Brooklyn, NY, The Magic Flute: A Film in Pieces, Washington Square Windows @ 80WSE Gallery, New York, NY, Itasca, The Bindery Projects, St. Paul, MN. (Curated by Matthew Schum) 2015 12" x 12" x 12”, Black Ball Projects, Brooklyn, NY, ReSignifications, Museo Bardini, Biagiotti Progetto Arte and Villa La Pietra, Florence, Italy. (Curated by Awam Amkpa) (catalogue), RESPOND, Smack Mellon, Brooklyn, NY. 2014 Industry Industry, Rob Buckley Gallery at All Angels Church, New York, NY, Homeland, Prattsville Art Center, Prattsville, NY. 2013 ‘Toonskin: Blackness in Sequential Art, artSPACE, New Haven, CT. (Curated by Kenya Robinson), The Poetics of Translation Art, Kimmel Center, Stoval Side Galleries, New York University, New York, NY, Wood, Takasago International Corporation, New York, NY. 2012 The Art of MudFest, Prattsville Art Center, Prattsville, NY, Luxury, Takasago International Corporation, New York, NY, Brucennial 2012, 159 Bleecker Street, New York, NY, Curated by Bruce High Quality Foundation.
Projects and Collaborations: 2021 Empirical Evidence, (Mount Vernon 3rd Ave. Bridge), MTA Arts & Design commission, Mount Vernon, NY, Atraves de la Persiana (Through the Blind) (Video Collaboration with Albert Josue Peguero for Times Square Arts) The Storefront Arts and Recovery Initiative (STAR), 1460 Broadway | Meringoff Properties 2019 Don’t Spook the Neighbors, (Window installation at 223 – 225 West 10th Street), Art-in-Buildings, New York, NY. 2018 Study Sessions: Damien Davis, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY. 2017 Art & Law: Oral Arguments (Collaboration with The Art & Law Program), New York, NY, MoMA PopRally Presents: Arty Gras, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY. Party mask design and video installation. 2015 The Magic Flute, 80WSE Gallery, New York, NY. Production Designer. Written by Vaginal Davis, directed by Susanne Sachsse, music by xiu xiu, film by Michel Auder. Produced by Jonathan Berger.
Residencies and Fellowships: 2022 Artist-in-Residence: Project for Empty Space, Newark, NJ, Visiting Artist: Anderson Ranch Art Center, Snowmass Village, CO. 2021 Artist-in-Residence: Kates-Ferri Projects, New York, NY. 2020 Artist-in-Residence: Mustakis Foundation, Santiago, Chile, Artist-in-Residence: Dieu Donné, Brooklyn, NY. 2019 Artist-in-Residence: Triangle Arts Association, Brooklyn, NY. 2018-19 Artist-in-Residence: Sugar Hill Children's Museum of Art & Storytelling, New York, NY, Artist Studios Residency Program, Museum of Arts and Design, New York, NY. 2018 Artist-in-Residence: Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, WA. 2016-17 Artist-in-Residence: Lower Manhattan Cultural Council's Workspace Program, New York, NY. 2016 Fellow: Art & Law Program, Brooklyn, NY. 2012 Artist-in-Residence: Prattsville Art Center, Prattsville, NY.
Social: @damiendavis