Damon Davis Explained

Nationality:American
Alma Mater:St. Louis University
Occupation:Artist, musician, filmmaker
Organization:Far-Fetched
Notable Works:"All Hands on Deck"; Whose Streets?

Damon Davis (born 1985)[1] is a multi-media American artist, musician and filmmaker based in St. Louis, Missouri.[2] [3] [4] His 2014 public art installation "All Hands on Deck" has been collected in the National Museum of African American History and Culture. He is also a founder of Far-Fetched, a St. Louis–based artist collective,[5] [6] and co-director of Whose Streets?, a documentary on the Ferguson unrest following police officer Darren Wilson's fatal shooting of Michael Brown. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2017.

Early life

The child of a sharecropper (his mother) and a Black Panther (his father), Davis grew up in East St. Louis.[7] [8] He attended St. Louis University, initially majoring in fine arts but graduating with a degree in communications.

Career

Davis has worked as a professional artist since 2010.

Music

Davis formed the hiphop duo Scriptz 'N Screwz in 2011, in which he participated using the stage name LooseScrewz. He next founded artist collective and record label Far-Fetched, in 2013 releasing an album eklektrip with collaborator Corey Williams (stage name Thelonius Kryptonite). In 2016, Davis began releasing music under his own name, with a three-part album cycle focused on Afrofuturist themes, including science fiction, Creole mysticism and "alternative blackness", in his words.

"All Hands on Deck"

In Ferguson, Missouri in 2014, while awaiting the grand jury decision on whether to indict police officer Darren Wilson for fatally shooting Michael Brown, Davis created a public art project on storefronts boarded up in anticipation of unrest. Working with store owners, he wheatpasted the plywood-covered windows of participating stores with a series of posters developed from his photographs of hands in the "hands up" gesture Brown was allegedly making when Wilson shot him.[9] Davis described the project at aiming to create "something visually appealing, just to give the people hope, and let them know we stand with them." Mic called the project "the most powerful street art in America."[10]

In 2016, the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego showed the photographs from the project in an exhibit called "Damon Davis: All Hands on Deck."[11] An original window board from the Ferguson installation is part of the permanent collection at the National Museum of African American History and Culture.[12]

Whose Streets?

See main article: Whose Streets?. With Sabaah Folayan, Davis co-directed Whose Streets?, a documentary about the Ferguson uprising following the killing of Michael Brown. The film premiered in competition at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival as a Day One screening,[13] [14] [15] [16] [17] where it received favorable reviews from critics.[18] [19] In a five-star review in The Guardian, Jordan Hoffman praised Folayan and Davis's "tremendous end run around mainstream news outlets and the agenda-driven narratives that emerge, particularly on television" in the directors' choice not to use "images...leaked by law enforcement or stage managed for the media, but [which] come directly from the people who lived through the violent events of 2014."[20] On February 7, 2017, Magnolia Pictures purchased the film for theatrical distribution, with plans for a summer release on the anniversary of Brown's death.[21] The film will be released on August 11, 2017.[22]

Davis's previous filmmaking included a 2008 documentary called Borrowed Time.

Accolades

In 2016, he was named one of Filmmaker Magazine's Twenty Five New Faces of Independent Film[23] and Independent Magazine's 10 Filmmakers to Watch.[24]

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: In Ferguson and St. Louis, an Artist's Quiet Outrage. Byrnes. Mark. December 4, 2014. CityLab. 2017-07-12. en-US. 2018-06-23. https://web.archive.org/web/20180623061228/https://www.citylab.com/equity/2014/12/in-ferguson-and-st-louis-an-artists-quiet-outrage/383388/. live.
  2. News: Damon Davis's Powerful Ferguson Street Art. Milliard. Coline. 2014-11-25. 2016-12-17. en-US. Artnet News. 2018-06-23. https://web.archive.org/web/20180623113241/https://news.artnet.com/exhibitions/days-before-the-verdict-artist-reclaimed-fergusons-boarded-up-shops-181314. live.
  3. News: Generation Now. Cooperman. Jeannette. 2013-10-18. 2016-12-17. Mahe. George. en-US. Medlin. Jarrett. Russell. Stefene. St. Louis Magazine. 2018-03-10. https://web.archive.org/web/20180310010834/https://www.stlmag.com/Generation-Now-November-2013/. live.
  4. News: Seven Questions with Multimedia Artist Damon Davis. Crone. Thomas. 2014-11-04. 2016-12-17. en-US. St. Louis Magazine. 2016-12-20. https://web.archive.org/web/20161220202408/https://www.stlmag.com/arts/music/seven-questions-with-multimedia-artist-damon-davis/. live.
  5. Web site: FarFetched Features Impose Magazine. www.imposemagazine.com. 2016-12-17. 2016-12-20. https://web.archive.org/web/20161220144202/http://www.imposemagazine.com/features/farfetched-labeled. live.
  6. Web site: Farfetched Founder Damon Davis Gets Real with Solo Debut LOA: Act 1. Schaeffer. Christian. Riverfront Times. 2016-12-17. 2016-12-20. https://web.archive.org/web/20161220161639/http://www.riverfronttimes.com/stlouis/farfetched-founder-damon-davis-gets-real-with-solo-debut-loa-act-1/Content?oid=3065619. live.
  7. News: Because Damon Davis Is Making Afrofuturism Vital. Schaeffer. Christian. 2016. 2016-12-17. Riverfront Times. 2016-12-16. https://web.archive.org/web/20161216153028/http://www.riverfronttimes.com/stlouis/because-damon-davis-is-making-afrofuturism-vital/BestOf?oid=3121081. live.
  8. News: Zeitchik. Steven. True/False Film Fest: Ferguson film 'Whose Streets?,' from the people who filled them. 11 July 2017. Los Angeles Times. 6 March 2017. 10 July 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170710171047/http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-ferguson-streets-true-false-20170306-story.html. live.
  9. Web site: Street Artist Damon Davis Installed Powerful "Hands Up" Posters on Boarded-Up Shops in Ferguson. LaSane. Andrew. November 25, 2014. Complex. en. 2017-07-12. 2017-10-22. https://web.archive.org/web/20171022135632/https://www.complex.com/style/2014/11/street-artist-damon-davis-installs-powerful-hands-up-posters-in-ferguson. live.
  10. News: Ferguson Now Has the Most Powerful Street Art in America. Rice. Zak Cheney. November 24, 2014. Mic. 2017-07-12. 2017-11-19. https://web.archive.org/web/20171119120256/https://mic.com/articles/104908/ferguson-now-has-the-most-powerful-street-art-in-america#.qcA8nOC94. live.
  11. News: Damon Davis: All Hands On Deck. 2016-04-04. Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego. 2017-07-12. 2017-06-29. https://web.archive.org/web/20170629220955/http://mcasd.org/exhibitions/damon-davis-all-hands-deck. live.
  12. Web site: "All Hands on Deck" Window Board. National Museum of African American History and Culture. 12 July 2017. en. 15 February 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210215161459/https://nmaahc.si.edu/object/nmaahc_2015.192.1?destination=explore%2Fcollection%2Fsearch%3Fedan_q%3D%252A%253A%252A%26edan_fq%255B0%255D%3Dobject_type%253A%2522Multimedia%2520works%2522%26edan_fq%255B1%255D%3Dobject_type%253A%2522Multimedia%2520works%2522%26edan_local%3D1. live.
  13. News: Sundance Unveils Competition Titles, Including Gulf War Drama, ISIS Doc, Pair of Post-Ferguson Films. The Hollywood Reporter. 2016-12-17. 2016-12-13. https://web.archive.org/web/20161213021057/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/sundance-unveils-2017-competition-films-complete-list-951376. live.
  14. News: Sundance Film Festival 2017: Four Films to Know. Barnes. Brooks. 2016-11-30. The New York Times. 0362-4331. 2016-12-17. 2016-12-16. https://web.archive.org/web/20161216190440/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/30/movies/sundance-film-festival-lineup.html. live.
  15. News: Sundance Film Festival 2017 likely to feel more political, on purpose or not. Olsen. Mark. Los Angeles Times. 2016-12-17. 2016-12-17. https://web.archive.org/web/20161217002236/http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-sundance-2017-lineup-20161129-story.html. live.
  16. News: Sundance documentaries: from Ferguson to Hulk Hogan. 2016-12-01. Otago Daily Times Online News. 2016-12-17. 2016-12-20. https://web.archive.org/web/20161220153818/https://www.odt.co.nz/entertainment/film/sundance-documentaries-ferguson-hulk-hogan. live.
  17. Web site: whose-streets. www.sundance.org. 2016-12-17. 2021-02-15. https://web.archive.org/web/20210215161502/https://www.sundance.org/projects/whose-streets. live.
  18. News: 'Whose Streets?': Film Review Sundance 2017. Rooney. David. January 20, 2017. The Hollywood Reporter. 2017-07-11. en. 2017-07-19. https://web.archive.org/web/20170719105635/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/streets-review-sundance-2017-966410. live.
  19. News: This New Ferguson Documentary Will Remind You What Really Matters. Mejia. Paul. January 26, 2017. The Fader. 2017-07-11. 2017-05-06. https://web.archive.org/web/20170506063320/http://www.thefader.com/2017/01/26/whose-streets-documentary-review. live.
  20. News: Whose Streets? review: searing film gives a voice to the people of Ferguson. Hoffman. Jordan. 2017-01-20. The Guardian. 2017-07-11. en-GB. 0261-3077. 2017-07-10. https://web.archive.org/web/20170710211038/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/jan/20/whose-streets-review-ferguson-documentary-sundance-film-festival. live.
  21. News: Hipes. Patrick. Sundance Ferguson Doc ‘Whose Streets?’ Lands At Magnolia. 11 July 2017. Deadline. 7 February 2017. 11 May 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170511000305/http://deadline.com/2017/02/whose-streets-ferguson-documentary-magnolia-pictures-1201904087/. live.
  22. News: 'Whose Streets?' Captures Aftermath Of Mike Brown Shooting. 16 May 2017. Vibe. McKinney. Jessica. 13 July 2017. 11 July 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170711213553/https://www.vibe.com/2017/05/whose-streets-documentary-trailer/. live.
  23. News: Damon Davis and Sabaah Folayan. Rizov. Vadim. 2016-12-17. Filmmaker Magazine. 2016-12-25. https://web.archive.org/web/20161225175513/http://filmmakermagazine.com/people/damon-davis-and-sabaah-folayan/. live.
  24. Web site: 10 Filmmakers to Watch in 2016: Damon Davis and Sabaah Folayan. Reynolds. Rebecca. 2016-03-16. Independent Magazine. 2016-12-17. 2016-12-21. https://web.archive.org/web/20161221010530/http://independent-magazine.org/2016/03/10-filmmakers-to-watch-in-2016-damon-davis-and-sabaah-folayan/. live.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Damon Davis".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.