Jeremy Okai Davis | Black Wood | Viewing Room
Jeremy Okai Davis, Black Wood (Iris Smith), 2020, acrylic on canvas wrapped panel, 24 x 24"
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Jeremy Okai Davis's Black Wood marks the gallery's first exhibition with the artist and presents new paintings featuring actors and models from Jet magazines in the 1950s - 60s. Davis's stylistic figuration employs a kind of pixelation/pointillist hybridization that references photography while highlighting painterly brushstrokes. His deep affection for painting is evidenced through imagery that uniquely synthesizes portraiture and expressionistic mark-making.
Jeremy Okai Davis, Aicha (detail), 2020, acrylic and found wood on canvas wrapped panel, 54 x 48"
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Jeremy Okai Davis, Aicha, 2020, acrylic and found wood on canvas wrapped panel, 54 x 48"
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The series continues his exploration of racial bias through the history of "Shirley cards," a system used to calibrate skin tones during film processing. Kodak's use of Shirley cards dictated the industry standard for skin-color balancing in photographs, effectively disregarding gradations of darker complexions.
To learn more, read a New York Times article titled The Racial Bias Built Into Photography by Sarah Lewis, Associate Professor at Harvard University.
Click to watch a video on the history of color film produced by Vox
In the Black Wood series, Davis highlights Black women musicians, models and actresses that were not widely recognized for their talents during the time they were working in the entertainment industry. His subjects symbolize the perseverance of Black culture and the kind of indefinable grace that can be maintained through struggle. Various calibration color tools are included in the paintings alongside individual subjects. As they serve as reminders of the persistence of institutionalized racism symbolized by “Shirley cards”, Davis simultaneously counters those histories with new visual propositions. The artist's inclusion of walnut inks, found wood elements and a lusciously layered color palette infuse the images with an ebullience and vibrancy, inviting us to see his subjects in a new light.
Jeremy Okai Davis, Toulouse, 2020, acrylic and pumice on canvas wrapped panel, 54 x 48”
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Spotlight on Muriel Burrell Smith
One of Jeremy Okai Davis's subjects is an American singer, Muriel Burrell Smith (February 23, 1923 – September 13, 1985). Smith was an uncredited talent whose voice was featured, but not acknowledged, in some popular motion pictures during the 1940s - 1950s. These "ghost singer" roles made invisibility an accepted practice during that time and included major ballads for films, including Moulin Rouge and South Pacific.
Source Material Provided by Jeremy Okai Davis
Jeremy Okai Davis’s Studio, source material and works-in-process, 2020. Image Credit: Liz Devine
Jeremy Okai Davis in his studio, 2020. Image Credit: Liz Devine
More Information
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Press Packet
Available Work
Playlist of videos featuring Jeremy Okai Davis
About the Artist
Jeremy Okai Davis (b. Charlotte, NC) received a BFA in painting from the University of North Carolina in Charlotte, NC. Davis relocated to Portland, OR in 2007 where he has continued his studio practice in addition to working as a graphic designer and illustrator. His work has been shown nationally at the Studio Museum of Harlem (New York, NY), THIS Los Angeles (Los Angeles, CA), Wa Na Wari (Seattle, WA) and The Rotating Art Program at Portland International Airport (Portland, OR). Davis's work resides in the Lonnie B. Harris Black Cultural Center at Oregon State University and the University of Oregon's permanent collection. Elizabeth Leach Gallery began representing Davis's work in 2019.