Kenturah Davis (born 1980)[1] is an American contemporary multidisciplinary artist and designer. She works in the mediums of sculpture, drafting, printmaking, painting, and performance art. Davis has lived between the cities of Los Angeles, New Haven in the United States, and Accra, Ghana.[2][3][4]

Education

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Davis earned her BA degree from Occidental College in 2002;[5] and a MFA degree from Yale University School of Art.[6][7]

Career

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Davis' work explores the relationship between identity, language, and figurative mark-making. Davis works in a range of media from drawing to painting to sculpture to performance.[8] Her work is in the collection of the Walker Art Center.[1]

In 2020, Davis collaborated with the fashion label: Osei Duro.[9] Davis was commissioned by Los Angeles Metro to create large-scale work that will be permanently installed in a site-specific location on the new K Line (Crenshaw/LAX) rail line.[6][10]

In 2021, the Pérez Art Museum Miami acquired their work Black As the Most Exquisite Color (2019) as part of this institution's new acquisitions initiative.[11] Davis's work was welcomed into PAMM's collection alongside artworks from Bisa Butler, Tania Bruguera, and Coco Fusco, among others.[12]

In 2022, Ava DuVernay's portrait, by Davis, was revealed by the National Portrait Gallery.[13][14][15]

Exhibitions

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  • 2013, "Sonder" at Papillion in Los Angeles[7][16]
  • 2019, "Blur in the Interest of Precision" at the Mathew Brown in Los Angeles[16][17]
  • 2020, "Everything that cannot be Known" at the SCAD Museum of Art in Georgia[18][19]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Kenturah Davis". Walker Art Center. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  2. ^ "Kenturah Davis". Los Angeles Times. 10 November 2019. Retrieved 22 June 2020 – via PressReader.com.
  3. ^ "Kenturah Davis". Petrucci Family Foundation Collection of African American Art. 10 June 2018. Retrieved 2020-06-22.
  4. ^ Burris-Wells, Mae. "Kenturah Davis delivers Plonsker Family Lecture".
  5. ^ Gilstrap, Peter. "Kenturah Davis '02". Oxy Stories, Oxy. Retrieved 2023-11-19.
  6. ^ a b "Kenturah Davis – NXTHVN". Retrieved 2020-06-22.
  7. ^ a b "Sonder - an exhibition by Kenturah Davis". PAPILLION. 2013. Archived from the original on 25 June 2020. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
  8. ^ "Kenturah Davis: 'Everything That Cannot Be Known'". Visit Savannah. 2020-06-22. Archived from the original on 2020-06-25. Retrieved 2020-06-22.
  9. ^ "Kenturah Davis Collaboration - Cloth #1". Osei – Duro. Archived from the original on 25 June 2020. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
  10. ^ Stromberg, Matt (10 October 2022). "LA's New Metro Line Opens With 14 Public Artworks". Hyperallergic. Archived from the original on 23 October 2022. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  11. ^ "Black As the Most Exquisite Color • Pérez Art Museum Miami". Pérez Art Museum Miami. Retrieved 2023-03-07.
  12. ^ Valentine, Victoria L. (2021-08-21). "New Acquisitions: Pérez Art Museum Miami Adds 13 Works to Collection, Diverse Slate of Artists Includes Kenturah Davis, Bisa Butler, Karon Davis, Coco Fusco, and Sonia Gomes". Culture Type. Retrieved 2023-03-07.
  13. ^ White, Abbey (1 November 2022). "How Kenturah Davis Crafted Ava DuVernay's Portrait for the 2022 Portrait of a Nation Awards". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 2 November 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  14. ^ "National Portrait Gallery Announces "Portrait of a Nation: 2022 Honorees," Exhibition of Newly Commissioned Portraits, To Open Nov. 10". Smithsonian Institution. 1 November 2022. Archived from the original on 1 November 2022. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  15. ^ Holliday, Kayla (1 November 2022). "Anthony Fauci, Clive Davis, Ava DuVernay, and More Take Their Place in the National Portrait Gallery". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on 1 November 2022. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  16. ^ a b "Kenturah Davis: Blur in the Interest of Precision at Matthew Brown Los Angeles". Curate LA. 2019. Archived from the original on 5 November 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  17. ^ "Kenturah Davis @ Matthew Brown Los Angeles". The LA Bae. 1 March 2019. Archived from the original on 23 June 2020.
  18. ^ "SCAD Museum of Art - Everything that Cannot be Known". Art Forum. 2020. Archived from the original on 20 June 2020. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  19. ^ "Kenturah Davis: Portraits". Africanah. 20 February 2020. Archived from the original on 23 June 2020. Retrieved 22 June 2020.