Scooping the NY Times: Creativity Unbound and Damon Davis

The story you're about to read (I hope) first appeared in the recent issue of County Living Magazine. I had wanted to do an article about an African-American artist but had no connections to that culture. I contacted Dr. Gerald Early, who I know from the Jazz STL book club, and asked him for an idea. He immediately shot back a name: Damon Davis. I talked to Damon and knew this was my guy. Thankfully I have a publisher at CLM, Todd Abrams, who saw the promise in the article, as well as its timeliness and importance. Little did we know just how timely. This was weeks before the events in Minneapolis.

Here's the kicker: A story on filmmakers appeared today (Wednesday 7/1/20) on the front page of the New York Times Arts section. "Filmmakers With a Focus On Justice: Ava DuVernay, Stanley Nelson, Sabaah Folayan and Damon Davis discuss race and the documentary tradition." That's a heavy load to carry, but these folks are making it happen. 

The article. I don't have the layout available, and I can't download the photos, so I've included the copy I wrote, and then added photos of the magazine layout. Michael Kilfoy is the designer.

A thank you here to Damon, Sophie, Todd and Michael for this important addition to the St. Louis cultural scene.

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St. Louis is home to a highly original and multi-faceted artist who, as he says, has “a lot of tools in my tool box. I use the one that best tells the story I want to tell.” His name is Damon Davis and to try to put a label on him is an exercise in frustration. I’m used to classifying an artist by the medium he or she uses. Painter, sculptor, quilter, photographer. But for Damon, I am stymied. He is impossible to categorize, except to say “He is an artist.”

Classification, however, is not important. It’s his talent, his drive and imagination behind his media that makes the difference. Davis is an award-winning artist who works and lives in St. Louis, not far from the newly-emergent art district on Cherokee Street. His website refers to him as a “post-disciplinary artist.” I had no idea what that meant so I asked him. He said, “My practice is part therapy, part social commentary. I work across a spectrum of creative mediums to tell stories that range in topic and scope.” The purpose of his creative output is to give voice to the powerless and oppose systems of oppression. He is quick to remind me that he focuses on the joy as well as the pain of the Black experience. It’s that yin and yang that makes his website so appropriately named: HeartacheAndPaint.com.

Damon’s roots determined his journey through life. His mother was a sharecropper in Louisiana and moved to St. Louis during the 1960’s. His father, who was born in St. Louis, served in the Army during the Viet Nam war, but found returning to the U.S. difficult. Damon grew up in East St. Louis, and attended a Catholic high school in Belleville, Illinois. He received a full scholarship to St. Louis University, where he majored in Fine Arts but eventually graduated with a degree in Communications. 

“I was pushed in-between two separate worlds,” he says, referring to the the traditional world of commerce and the world of art. “My whole life has been art, it’s always been what I’ve done. I tell stories.” He talks about how many of his friends went into civil service. He was different. “For me, regular work was soul crushing. I wouldn’t be alive today if I had to do that.” He admits he doesn’t take orders well. The mark of a true artist.

Writing isn’t one of his strong suits. “I find writing difficult, but I’m working hard to improve it. People have approached me to write a book. I can talk, but my brain moves faster than my hand.” In the meantime, his visual art breaks new boundaries. 

Our conversation takes us to the subject of race. This stands at the center of his work. I asked Damon what he wants his art to accomplish. “I hope people will think, ask questions they didn’t ask themselves before, take a look at someone else’s experience. And arrive at an understanding.” He is quick to point out what it is not. “It’s not about getting past the legacy of slavery, not about getting past anything. It’s acknowledgment of America’s past.” That acknowledgment, he believes, can create a positive effect: “To bring people closer together; to make people realize they are not alone.” 

It seems no medium is unexplored for Damon. What is his favorite?

“Music,” he says after careful consideration. “What I love most of all is I can sit in a room with my equipment and create the songs and sounds and feelings I’m after.” He works on a keyboard and other electronic gear. “Music has put me in places with people who have completely different backgrounds. It’s as though we have a private conversation among us. I never would have known about them, except through music.”

His tastes include Miles, Stevie Wonder, Bob Marley, and many of today’s artists. His biggest influence is Outkast, one of the most respected hip-hop groups in history. His conceptual album, “Darker Gods,” delves into the power of myth, and provides the soundtrack to an exhibit of his. “It welcomes us to a new world of Black Gods and Goddesses.”  

“Black Bag” was founded by Damon with Basil Kincaid, a nationally-recognized visual artist who lives in St. Louis. This award provides unrestricted funding, networking opportunities, and support for young black artists in St. Louis and East St. Louis. The cash funding ranges from $250 to $500, with guidance and supervision on a continuing basis.

Arising from the death of Damon’s mother, and his conflict with family and friends, “Cracks” is a series of three-dimensional works that explore vulnerability, masculinity, grieving, and trauma. They were created as part of his residency at Grinnell College last year, and were featured in his solo exhibition at Grinnell’s Museum of Art. This was the kind of exhibit that stops you in your tracks and says, “Pay attention. This artist has something to say.” It was a combination of sculptures and digitally enhanced photographs.

An important and highly-praised documentary from 2017 was co-produced and co-directed by Damon, with Sabaah Folayan. A harsh and unrelenting look at the killing of Michael Brown, “Whose Streets” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. The critics praised it, and The Guardian gave it a five-star review, calling it a “tremendous end run around mainstream news outlets.” Magnolia Pictures picked it up for national distribution in theaters. In 2016, he was named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s Twenty Five New Faces of Independent Film, and Independent Magazine's 10 Filmmakers to Watch.

Davis created a public art project on boarded-up storefronts in Ferguson in anticipation of unrest. Working with store owners, he wheat pasted the plywood-covered windows of participating stores with a series of posters developed from his photographs of “Hands Up.” Davis wanted to create "something visually appealing, to give people hope, and let them know we stand with them.” An original window board from the installation is part of the permanent collection at the National Museum of African-American History and Culture.

Ted Talk. August, 2017. The subject was fear. Damon shared his fear with a national audience on this highly-acclaimed program, an on-line service that streams talks on variety of subjects. “Fear is like a disease,” he said. “When it moves, it moves like wildfire. But when you do what you’ve got to do, it’s called courage. And courage, like fear, is contagious.” His talk was impressive and effective, showcasing his skill as a speaker and verbal communicator. One reviewer said, “Davis exhibits two impactful speaking skills here: showing emotion and using repetition.”

And finally, two more projects. The first, a graphic novel for children called “The Bull, The Boar, The Wasp, and the Ant.” Davis wrote and illustrated it in the tradition of countless West African proverbs. The other is “All Hands on Deck,” an exhibit of photographs by Damon of individuals in Ferguson. Organized by the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, the “hands up” images became a national symbol .

At 35, Damon Davis has made an impact on the art world and America’s conscience. There is no telling what the years ahead hold for him. But we’ll find out. For more about him and his work, visit HeartacheAndPaint.com. Also watch the documentary “Whose Streets,” on line from various streaming sources.

Here is the NY Times today. Keep an eye on Damon. He brings a much needed vision to our American landscape.