Curtis Davis

June 27–September 7, 2019
Four sculptures on makeshift tables, two to a table, with a partial view of another sculpture on a table in the foreground. Two paintings are installed on the walls.

Curtis Davis, installation view, 2019

Four sculptures on makeshift tables, two to a table, with a partial view of another sculpture on a table in the foreground. Two paintings are installed on the walls.

Curtis Davis, installation view, 2019

Two sculptures installed on a table. Both resemble architectural maquettes coated in acrylic paint. The painting Flower (pink on green), 2015 is mounted on the wall behind them.

Curtis Davis, installation view, 2019

Tree Log, 2019 and Rock #11, 2019 installed on a table. Flower #1, 2017 is mounted on the wall beside the table.

Curtis Davis, installation view, 2019

Rock #9, 2019 and Tree Log2, 2019 installed on a table.

Curtis Davis, installation view, 2019

A sculpture made from pieces of treated wood stacked horizontally to make a base for three thin wooden logs and two crushed soda bottles. The sculpture is coated in many layers of gray paint.

Curtis Davis

Rock #9, 2019

Acrylic on Found Materials

27.5 × 12 × 9.5 in.

A small log and several rocks arranged on a rectangular base. The entire sculpture is coated in many layers of bubblegum pink acrylic paint.

Curtis Davis

Tree Log2, 2019

Acrylic on Found Materials

23 × 13 × in.

A split log resting on a cardboard wedge. The entire sculpture is coated in many layers of a vibrant, matte moss green acrylic paint.

Curtis Davis

Tree Log, 2019

Acrylic on Found Materials

24 × 17.5 × 10 in.

A sculpture resembling an architectural maquette, made from cans and cardboard and incorporating pine cones. The sculpture is coated in many layers of light blue acrylic.

Curtis Davis

Rock #8, 2019

Acrylic on Found Materials

16.25 × 13 × 9.5 in.

A rectangular, sculptural work. Several rocks framed by pine cones and wood, thoroughly coated in several layers of dark gray acrylic paint to give a rubbery look.

Curtis Davis

Rock #11, 2019

Acrylic on Found Materials

27.5 × 19.5 × 4 in.

A semi-abstract depiction of a flower with a white stem and long green leaves pointing downward, over organic pink and blue shapes against a red background.

Curtis Davis

Flower #10, 2018

Acrylic and Pen on Canvas

20 × 16 in.

Four flowers in a partially abstracted blue glass vessel, surrounded by brushy white marks.

Curtis Davis

Flower #1, 2017

Acrylic and Pen on Canvas

24.5 × 18 in.

Press Release

White Columns is proud to present the first New York solo exhibition by the Cincinnati-based artist Curtis Davis. The exhibition is presented in collaboration with Visionaries + Voices (Cincinnati) as a part of the city-wide 2019 CONDO New York project.

This will be White Columns second collaboration with Visionaries + Voices, following our 2016 solo presentation of Dale Jackson’s work. Established in 2003 in Cincinnati, OH, Visionaries + Voices is a non-profit organization that provides exhibition opportunities, studio space, and support to more than 125 visual artists with disabilities.

Curtis Davis’s exhibition at White Columns centers around a recent group of his visceral painted sculptural works. Davis’s process begins with the construction of a sculptural armature, typically created from found or scavenged materials, inc. rocks, debris, pine cones, sections of tree trunks, scrap wood and cardboard. Davis then proceeds to paint these resultant structures with layer-upon-layer of monochromatic paint, with each subsequent layer concealing the previous one. Creating in turn an accumulative, all-over, skin-like surface that both envelops and transforms the – now increasingly obscured – sculpture below.

Presented on table-top platforms – that echo Davis’s studio set up – these hybrid ‘painting-sculptures’ suggest a form of improvised architecture: e.g. the visionary, expressionistic constructions of Hermann Finsterlin (1887-1973) come to mind, as does Martin Kippenberger’s iconic 1988 artist’s book ‘Psychobuildings’. Davis’s complex and ambiguous work ultimately reverberates with the multiple – and often confused – histories of modernist sculpture, where a partial list of antecedents might include: Dada assemblage and the idiosyncratic sculptural works of artists as different as Ken Price, A.R. Penck, Franz West, B. Wurtz, Judith Scott, Vincent Fecteau, and Rachel Harrison, among (many) others.

This exhibition builds upon White Columns’ now 15-year history of collaborations with art centers and studio programs that support communities of artists living and working with disabilities, including projects with artists affiliated with the following organizations: Creative Growth (Oakland, CA); N.I.A.D. (Richmond, CA); H.A.I. (New York); Fountain House (New York); First Street (Claremont, CA); Gateway Arts (Brookline, MA); and Visionaries + Voices (Cincinnati, OH).

White Columns would like to thank everyone at Visionaries + Voices for their enthusiastic support in bringing Curtis Davis’s work to White Columns. To learn more about Visionaries + Voices, their mission and the artists they support, visit: www.visionariesandvoices.com

To learn more about the city-wide CONDO New York project, visit: www.condocomplex.org

Checklist

Related Press

Four sculptures on makeshift tables, two to a table, with a partial view of another sculpture on a table in the foreground. Two paintings are installed on the walls.
Four sculptures on makeshift tables, two to a table, with a partial view of another sculpture on a table in the foreground. Two paintings are installed on the walls.
Two sculptures installed on a table. Both resemble architectural maquettes coated in acrylic paint. The painting Flower (pink on green), 2015 is mounted on the wall behind them.
Tree Log, 2019 and Rock #11, 2019 installed on a table. Flower #1, 2017 is mounted on the wall beside the table.
Rock #9, 2019 and Tree Log2, 2019 installed on a table.
A sculpture made from pieces of treated wood stacked horizontally to make a base for three thin wooden logs and two crushed soda bottles. The sculpture is coated in many layers of gray paint.
A small log and several rocks arranged on a rectangular base. The entire sculpture is coated in many layers of bubblegum pink acrylic paint.
A split log resting on a cardboard wedge. The entire sculpture is coated in many layers of a vibrant, matte moss green acrylic paint.
A sculpture resembling an architectural maquette, made from cans and cardboard and incorporating pine cones. The sculpture is coated in many layers of light blue acrylic.
A rectangular, sculptural work. Several rocks framed by pine cones and wood, thoroughly coated in several layers of dark gray acrylic paint to give a rubbery look.
A semi-abstract depiction of a flower with a white stem and long green leaves pointing downward, over organic pink and blue shapes against a red background.
Four flowers in a partially abstracted blue glass vessel, surrounded by brushy white marks.

Curtis Davis, installation view, 2019 (Four sculptures on makeshift tables, two to a table, with a partial view of another sculpture on a table in the foreground. Two paintings are installed on the walls.)

Curtis Davis, installation view, 2019 (Four sculptures on makeshift tables, two to a table, with a partial view of another sculpture on a table in the foreground. Two paintings are installed on the walls.)

Curtis Davis, installation view, 2019 (Two sculptures installed on a table. Both resemble architectural maquettes coated in acrylic paint. The painting Flower (pink on green), 2015 is mounted on the wall behind them.)

Curtis Davis, installation view, 2019 (Tree Log, 2019 and Rock #11, 2019 installed on a table. Flower #1, 2017 is mounted on the wall beside the table.)

Curtis Davis, installation view, 2019 (Rock #9, 2019 and Tree Log2, 2019 installed on a table.)

Curtis Davis Rock #9, 2019 Acrylic on Found Materials 27.5 × 12 × 9.5 in. (A sculpture made from pieces of treated wood stacked horizontally to make a base for three thin wooden logs and two crushed soda bottles. The sculpture is coated in many layers of gray paint.)

Curtis Davis Tree Log2, 2019 Acrylic on Found Materials 23 × 13 × in. (A small log and several rocks arranged on a rectangular base. The entire sculpture is coated in many layers of bubblegum pink acrylic paint.)

Curtis Davis  Tree Log, 2019 Acrylic on Found Materials 24 × 17.5 × 10 in.  (A split log resting on a cardboard wedge. The entire sculpture is coated in many layers of a vibrant, matte moss green acrylic paint.)

Curtis Davis Rock #8, 2019 Acrylic on Found Materials 16.25 × 13 × 9.5 in. (A sculpture resembling an architectural maquette, made from cans and cardboard and incorporating pine cones. The sculpture is coated in many layers of light blue acrylic paint.)

Curtis Davis Rock #11, 2019 Acrylic on Found Materials 27.5 × 19.5 × 4 in. (A rectangular, sculptural work. Several rocks framed by pine cones and wood, thoroughly coated in several layers of dark gray acrylic paint to give a rubbery look.)

Curtis Davis Flower #10, 2018 Acrylic and Pen on Canvas 20 × 16 in. (A semi-abstract depiction of a flower with a white stem and long green leaves pointing downward, over organic pink and blue shapes against a red background.)

Curtis Davis Flower #1, 2017 Acrylic and Pen on Canvas 24.5 × 18 in. (Four flowers in a partially abstracted blue glass vessel, surrounded by brushy white marks.)