Moyra Davey Explained

Moyra Davey
Birth Place:Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Field:Photographer, video artist, writer
Notable Works:Copperheads (1990–ongoing); Newsstands (1994); Les Goddesses (2011); Horse Opera (2019–2022)
Education:University of California, San Diego; Whitney Museum of American Art Independent Study Program

Moyra Davey (born 1958, Toronto, ON) is an artist who has been living in New York City since 1988. She works across photography, video, and writing. Davey is known for her experimental films that take root in written monologues, her portraits, and her essays that pair photography and language.

Early life and education

Davey was born in 1958 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.[1] She grew up in Montreal, where she studied photography and received a BFA from Concordia University in 1982. She then achieved an MFA from the University of California, San Diego in 1988. In 1989, she attended The Whitney Museum of American Art Independent Study Program.[2]

Work

Davey was one of twelve co-organizers of the alternative exhibition space, Orchard, which ran from 2005–2008 on a storefront on Orchard St. in New York's Lower East Side.[3] The venue presented more than two dozen exhibitions, one of them Davey's self-organized project “Reality / Play.”[4]

She edited the anthology , published in 2001 by Seven Stories Press in New York. The collection of writings brought together essays and texts by an array of artists, writers and thinkers who spoke plainly and poetically on the topic of motherhood (often their own).[5]

For her 2007 solo exhibition at goodwater gallery, Toronto, Davey mailed some of her photographs to the Canadian gallery through the US postal system, by folding them up to letter size and taping them at the edges.[6] The photographs, affixed with address labels and postage, were cut open, unfolded, installed pinned to the wall, without a frame. This was the beginning of a major and ongoing motif in her photographic practice, which would result in mailed arrangements of photographs in varying scale, including grids of hundreds of photographs at venues such as Portikus, Frankfurt, in 2017.[7]

Davey's first solo survey, Long Life, Cool White, was organized by Helen Molesworth in 2008 at the Fogg Museum, Harvard University, where she was curator.[8] The exhibition brought together a numerous series of work that Davey had produced over the past few decades, such as “Newsstands” (1994), “Copperheads” (1990–ongoing), “Books & Dust” (1999), and more. A compact book was published alongside the exhibition that included essays by Davey and Molesworth, along with plates of Davey's photography.[9]

In 2011, Davey completed work on her third short film, Les Goddesses, which followed her historical fascination with the 18th-century feminist writer Mary Wollstonecraft; her writings, her partner William Godwin, and her progeny. In the film, Davey established a narrative link to the lives of her and her sisters' Montreal childhood, taking place 200 years later. The work was first screened at greengrassi, London, in 2011, and went on to be shown in venues including the Museum of Modern Art, White Columns, the Whitney Museum of American Art, all New York; ICA and Camden Arts Centre, both London; Museo Jumex, Mexico City; 30a Bienal de São Paulo; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid; Artium Museoa, Vitoria-Gasteiz; the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, among many others. [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19]

The 14th installment of Documenta (2017) included Davey's work, which was installed across sites in Athens, Greece and Kassel, Germany. For each location, she created site-specific large-scale photographic installations, which arrived at their respective venues via regular airmail, as individual prints, folded up and taped.[20] Her work for Athens, Portrait-Landscape, was accompanied by a short film, Wedding Loop, both of which were later exhibited at Galerie Buchholz, Berlin.[21] The accompanying film would later be shown at venues including Film Society of Lincoln Center, New York; British Film Institute, London; Tate St Ives; Museum of Modern Art, New York; and many others.[22] [23] [24]

In 2020, a collection of Davey's writings was published by New Directions and Fitzcarraldo Editions, edited by Nicolas Linnert.[25] Titled Index Cards, the paperback included essays on photography, art making, reading and writing, and the historical figures that inspire much of her work, such as Janet Malcolm, Chantal Akerman, Jean Genet, and many others. The publication comprised over a dozen texts written as early as 2003.[26]  

Later in 2020, a major survey of Davey's work was shown at the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. The exhibition included many of her mailed photographic installations, including large scale series such as Subway Writers, 2014, and her ongoing "Copperheads" project, 1990–. Entitled The Faithful, the exhibition also highlighted Davey's portraiture practice, with subjects ranging from friends and family to equines and wildlife. Her short, essayistic films also received notable attention, with six on display that dated from 2019 on back to the early 90s.[27]

Davey's first feature film, Horse Opera, premiered in 2022 at the FRONT International in Cleveland, followed by an extensive film festival tour that included premiere screenings at the 47th Toronto International Film Festival (Tiff); 73rd Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale); New Horizons International Film Festival, Wroclaw, Poland; and Fronteira Film Festival, Brasília. The film anchored Davey's expansive 2022 film survey at Museum of Modern Art, New York, and celebrated New York City's nightlife culture, juxtaposing a cast of characters frequenting the city's iconic dance parties, amidst reflections on the aging human body and depictions of socializing equine gatherings, all interrupted by 2020's extraordinary Covid-19 lockdowns.[28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33]

Teaching

Davey has taught at ICP-Bard College MFA in Advanced Photographic Studies, New York; Vermont College MFA in Visual Arts; and Programme d'Études Postgrades CCC, Geneva.[34] [35]

Publications

Films

Shorts

Feature films

Solo exhibitions

Awards

Collections

Davey's work is held in the following permanent collections:

Notes and References

  1. http://whitney.org/Exhibitions/2012Biennial/MoyraDavey "Moyra Davey"
  2. News: Vigier . Janique . 2020-05-29 . An Artist Who Delights in the Minor Key . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-02-05 . 0362-4331.
  3. Web site: Orchard47 . 2024-08-23 . www.47orchard.org.
  4. Web site: Orchard47 . 2024-08-23 . www.47orchard.org.
  5. Web site: Dickinson . -Ben . Magazine . Elle . Mother Reader . 2024-08-23 . sevenstories.com . en.
  6. Web site: Davey-2007 goodwater gallery . 2024-08-23 . en-US.
  7. Web site: 2018-01-01 . Moyra Davey "Hell Notes" at Portikus, Frankfurt/Main — Mousse Magazine and Publishing . 2024-08-23 . www.moussemagazine.it . en-US.
  8. Web site: Harvard . Exhibitions, Long Life Cool White: Photographs by Moyra Davey Harvard Art Museums . 2024-08-23 . harvardartmuseums.org . en.
  9. Book: Davey, Moyra . Long Life Cool White: Photographs & Essays . 2008 . Harvard University Art Museums . 978-0-300-13646-3 . en.
  10. Web site: greengrassi — Moyra Davey Les Goddesses 2011 . 2024-08-23 . greengrassi.
  11. Web site: Les Goddesses. 2011. Directed by Moyra Davey . MoMA.
  12. Web site: Looking Back / The 7th White Columns Annual – Selected by Richard Birkett . 2024-08-23 . White Columns . en.
  13. Web site: Screening: Moyra Davey . 2024-08-23 . whitney.org . en.
  14. Web site: life without sheets of paper to be scribbled on is masterpiece - Camden Art Centre . 2024-08-23 . camdenartcentre.org.
  15. Web site: Les Goddesses . 2024-08-23 . Museo Jumex . en.
  16. Web site: Paulo . Bienal São . Bienal de São Paulo . 2024-08-23 . www.bienal.org.br . pt-BR.
  17. Web site: Moyra Davey - Les Goddesses . 2024-08-23 . www.museoreinasofia.es . en.
  18. Web site: Moyra Davey. Lanak/Obras/Works . 2024-08-23 . artium.eus . es-es.
  19. Web site: Moyra Davey: The Faithful .
  20. Web site: Moyra Davey . 2024-08-23 . www.documenta14.de . en.
  21. Web site: Buchholz . Galerie . Portrait / Landscape — Moyra Davey — Exhibitions — Galerie Buchholz . 2024-08-23 . www.galeriebuchholz.de . de.
  22. Web site: Moyra Davey: Two Premieres . 2024-08-23 . Film at Lincoln Center . en.
  23. Web site: Tate . Virginia Woolf Tate St Ives . 2024-08-23 . Tate . en-GB.
  24. Web site: Wedding Loop. 2017. Directed by Moyra Davey La Ciénega. 2001. Directed by Lucrecia Martel . MoMA.
  25. Web site: Moyra Davey's *Index Cards* - Criticism - e-flux . 2024-08-23 . www.e-flux.com . en.
  26. Web site: Index Cards by Moyra Davey New Directions . 2024-08-23 . www.ndbooks.com . en.
  27. Web site: Moyra Davey: The Faithful . National Gallery of Canada.
  28. Web site: Moyra Davey . 2024-08-23 . FRONT International . en-US.
  29. Web site: Sicinski . Michael . 2022-09-09 . TIFF 2022 Horse Opera (Moyra Davey, US) — Wavelengths . 2024-08-23 . Cinema Scope . en-US.
  30. Web site: Horse Opera . 2024-08-23 . www.berlinale.de . en.
  31. Web site: Końska opera Front Wizualny 23. edycja Archiwum programowe . 2024-08-23 . www.nowehoryzonty.pl . pl.
  32. Web site: Fronteira Festival . 2024-08-23 . www.fronteirafestival.com.
  33. Web site: Horse Opera. 2019–2022. Directed by Moyra Davey . MoMA.
  34. Web site: People . 2024-08-23 . www.bard.edu.
  35. Web site: Moyra Davey . 2024-08-23 . The Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation . en-US.
  36. Web site: The Problem of Reading available online at Murray Guy Gallery's website.
  37. Web site: Exhibition : Monologues (with Julia Scher), Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, OH, 2006.
  38. Web site: Exhibition: Long Life Cool White, The Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 2008. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20140317043251/http://www.harvardartmuseums.org/exhibitions/past/long-life-cool-white-photographs-moyra-davey. March 17, 2014.
  39. Exhibition : Speaker Receiver, Kunsthalle Basel, Basel, Switzerland, 2010 Web site: Kunsthalle Basel · Exhibitions · Preview. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20140317034357/http://www.kunsthallebasel.ch/exhibitions/preview/93?lang=en. March 17, 2014. 2014-03-17. mdy-all.
  40. Web site: Article . theimagecentre.ca. Ryerson . 11 September 2024.
  41. Web site: 2022-11-14. Moyra Davey – MoMA. The Museum of Modern Art.
  42. Web site: Recipients to Date. Anonymous Was A Woman. en-US. 2020-02-18.
  43. Web site: Tiffany Foundation Names 30 Artist Grant Winners. 2012-02-23. Observer. en-US. 2020-02-18.
  44. Web site: 2019-02-10. Moyra Davey wins $50,000 Scotiabank Photography Award. thestar.com. May 8, 2018 .
  45. Web site: Leah. S. als. 2019-02-10. Moyra Davey Wins $50K Scotiabank Photography Award. Canadian Art.
  46. Web site: John Simon Guggenheim Foundation Moyra 2022 – Davey. 2020-10-30. en-US.
  47. Web site: Moyra Frances Davey . en.ggarts.ca . Governor General of Canada . 20 August 2022.
  48. Web site: Moyra Davey Kemper Art Museum. 2021-02-15. www.kemperartmuseum.wustl.edu.
  49. Web site: Moyra Davey. The Coffee Shop, The Library. 2011 MoMA. The Museum of Modern Art. en. 2020-02-18.
  50. Web site: 'Copperheads', Moyra Davey, 1990. Tate. en-GB. 2020-02-18.
  51. Web site: '16 Photographs from Paris II', Moyra Davey, 2009. Tate. en-GB. 2020-02-18.
  52. Web site: Search the Collection The Metropolitan Museum of Art. www.metmuseum.org. 2020-02-18.
  53. Web site: Moyra Davey. The Art Institute of Chicago. en. 2020-02-18.
  54. Web site: Moyra Davey. whitney.org. en. 2020-02-18.
  55. Web site: 2022-11-14. The Guggenheim Museums and Foundation. The Guggenheim Museums and Foundation.
  56. Web site: Moyra Davey · SFMOMA. www.sfmoma.org. en-US. 2020-02-18.
  57. Web site: Moyra Davey. www.moca.org. 2020-02-18.
  58. Web site: Artist Info. www.nga.gov. 2020-02-18.
  59. Web site: Moyra Davey . National Gallery of Canada.
  60. Web site: Moyra Davey Biography . Murray Guy . 24 March 2019.

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

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2025, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.