Solo Exhibition by New York-based Artist Damien Davis Goes on View at VisArts, September 6

Richmond, Va. (Aug. 9, 2019) An exhibition of work by New York-based artist Damien Davis titled “Color Cargo” will open at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond on Friday, September 6.

“Color Cargo” debuted at the Center for Art in Wood (Philadelphia, Pa.) in May 2019 and was curated by Jennifer-Navva Milliken.

The September 6 opening at VisArts will start with a gallery talk at 5:30 p.m. A public reception will follow from 6 to 8 p.m. The exhibition runs through November 3, 2019.

“This is only the second time “Color Cargo” has been on public view and we’re excited to share Damien Davis’ incredible work with the Richmond community,” said Stefanie Fedor, executive director of the Visual Arts Center of Richmond. “This exhibition is visually stunning and it asks important questions about representations of race.”

In “Color Cargo,” Davis examines the role of wood in the historical and current commercial transport of people and goods—from the mid-Atlantic slave trade to e-commerce. Exploiting the seductive and subjective beauty of color and the power of color as a metaphor, the artist creates a space for confronting bias and dehumanization in contemporary society.

Davis earned his BFA in Studio Art from New York University in 2010 and his MFA in Visual Arts Administration from New York University in 2013.

Davis’ work 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.

He has been artist-in-residence at Sugar Hill Children’s Museum of Art & Storytelling, New York, NY; Museum of Arts and Design, New York, NY; Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, WA; Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s Workspace Program, New York, NY; Art & Law Program, Brooklyn, NY; and Prattsville Art Center, Prattsville, NY.

Crate #2 (detail), Damien Davis, 2019

Davis has exhibited his work in solo exhibitions at Latchkey Gallery, New York, NY; Prattsville Art Center, Prattsville, NY; METHOD Gallery, Seattle, WA.; Black Ball Projects, Brooklyn, NY.; Sugar Hill Children’s Museum of Art & Storytelling, New York, NY; among others.

Davis’ work has been part of collaborative projects at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; 80WSE Gallery, New York, NY; NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Department of Photography & Imaging, New York, NY; Manifesta Biennial, Palermo, Italy and Sine Gallery, Berlin, Germany, among others.

About the Visual Arts Center of Richmond: The Visual Arts Center of Richmond is a 56-year-old community arts center located in Richmond, Virginia. Each year, the organization offers over 1,000 visual and creative arts classes, hosts four major exhibitions by contemporary artists and touches the lives of 45,000 people. The True F. Luck Gallery at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week.