Damien Davis: Color Cargo

Above: Damien Davis, Crate #2 (detail), 2017, laser-etched wood.

Damien Davis (b. 1984) is a New York-based artist who 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. In Color Cargo, Davis examines the role of wood in the historical and current commercial transport of people and goods. Exploiting 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.

This exhibition will be on tour, opening on Sept. 6, 2019,  at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond in Virginia. Click here for details.