SEARCHING.
February 4, 2023 - May 29, 2023
SEARCHING. is a solo exhibition by 2022 Artist in Residence Damien Davis. The exhibition opened on Saturday, February 4, 2023, with a public reception from 4-6PM at Project for Empty Space. The exhibition remained on view until May 29th, 2023.
Set within the confines of a darkened gallery, Davis’ solo project probed the multiple social connotations of “searching.” These interpretations included notions of collective exploration, from universal questioning to the intimacy of personal and interior probing. Created from cascading laser-cut fluorescent acrylic, the works in the exhibition physically and conceptually layered experiences pertinent to the Black and QTPOC American experience. The artist's labyrinthine reflections on the implications of police surveillance/home invasion/’security’, intimacy/sex/queerness/Black precarity, and loneliness/darkness/violence/harm were embedded within each work.
Shrouded in a cocoon of the blacked-out gallery, the pieces in SEARCHING. possessed a quiet glow that required the audience’s participation to illuminate. Upon entering the eerily silent arena where the works are hung, viewers were given a flashlight to navigate the space with. As they conducted their own “forensic search” by blacklight, artworks emerged, floating in the isolation of [B]lack space—beautiful, stoic, and somehow lonely. Inspired by the long history of police searches in Black homes and domestic spaces, the artist invited the viewer to conduct their own “forensic search”. Blooming under the transformative glare of the blacklights, colors, and shapes radiated and pulsated with neon life, an effect both beckoning and toxic.
SEARCHING. maintained Davis’ practice of incorporating humor and innocuousness. His works contained familiar motifs including, but not limited to, afropicks, figures in profile wearing cap crowns, watch gears, rocket ships, butt plugs, dildos, and West African masks. Multiple entendres were embedded within his playfulness: fear, loathing, anxiety, and desire. Revealed under the ultraviolet glow of the blacklight, his shapes were satisfyingly clean-cut, bright, and tactile.
Above image: Anonymous Call, 2023, laser-cut acrylic and stainless steel hardware.
On May 3rd, 2023, Damien Davis had a conversation with Emil Wilbekin, Founder of Native Son, that centered on Black queerness as framework relating to history, precarity, longing, and belonging. View the video recap below.
Tune into Spotify for two playlists curated by the artist. 1-TIME and DEMON TIME share interpretations of “searching” that Davis interrogated within the exhibition as it relates to intimate space.
1-TIME (slang for police) is a meditation on police raids, home invasions, surveillance, and more.
DEMON TIME (slang for hook-up time) is a meditation on gay hookup culture, sexual precariousness, the fetishization of Black men, and more.
Above Image: Damien Davis, Studio at Project for Empty Space (2022), by Becca Guzzo
About the Artist
Damien Davis (b. 1984, Cowley, LA) is a Brooklyn-based artist who was raised in Phoenix, Arizona. His practice explores historical representations of Blackness by unpacking the visual language of various cultures, questioning how societies code/decode/recode representations of race through craft, design, and digital modes of production. His work has appeared at The Whitney Museum of American Art, Museum of Modern Art, Museum of Arts and Design, and various galleries across the country. He is the recipient of the Rema Hort Mann Foundation Community Engagement Grant. He has been awarded residencies with Dieu Donné, Triangle Arts Association, the Museum of Arts and Design, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Pilchuck Glass School, and Sugar Hill Children’s Museum of Art and Storytelling.
Mr. Davis is also a former fellow and current advisor for the Art & Law Program in New York City and a board member for the Fire Island Artist Residency. His work has been mentioned in the New York Times, Frieze Magazine, The Guardian, Hyperallergic, Vulture Magazine and NYLON. He is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of Sculpture at Purchase College (SUNY) and holds a BFA in Studio Art and an MA in Visual Arts Administration from New York University.