LOS ANGELES — Artists know that negative space provides an opportunity for so much creation, and those involved in spiritual practice know that shadow work contains the deepest opportunities for self-exploration. An artist like Kenturah Davis explores both and in doing so creates opportunities for us to see the sacred and the meditative in the words we write.
dark lighting, presented at OXY ARTS, the art gallery of Occidental College, is the artist’s first solo institutional exhibition in Los Angeles and the culmination of his residency at the gallery. Two projections near the entrance appear to show the artist at work in his residence. We see her arms and hands etching gracefully on what looks like stained glass as she creates her works. Actually, these are just projections, but I had to check behind the wall to confirm, just to make sure she wasn’t really there.
Davis, explains the exhibit text, draws inspiration from early forms of writing and marking, whether on temple walls or clay. Indeed, while much of this early writing had a role in accounting and business, it also had a role in worship. The famous hieroglyphics of Egypt, for example, are preserved in tombs and temples as millennial memories of a distant civilization.
In a portrait made with rubber stamps, “In Praise of Shadows”, a character is looking up at what I imagine to be the sun or the moon. Upon closer inspection, the character’s face and hair are made up of dozens, if not hundreds, of rubber stamps. Next to this piece, the “planar vessel XVI” consists of 12 clay tiles that form another figure that looks directly at us. On his eyes is written a passage from Carlo Rovelli The order of time:
The hardest stone, in the light of what we have learned from chemistry, physics, mineralogy, geology, psychology, is actually a complex vibration of quantum fields, a momentary interaction of forces, a process which, for a brief moment, manages to keep its shape, to hold itself in balance before disintegrating again into dust, a brief chapter in the history of the interactions between the elements of the planet, a trace of Neolithic humanity…
‘Planar Vessel XV’, spanning almost 15 feet, contains 168 tiles consisting of further reflections and contemplations of time and space as a figure appears to dance and dissipate into the light. Set in a dark gallery space, the installation encourages gentle reflection and contemplation on the nature of light and writing as it forms the basis of how we view the world.
It’s as if Davis reminds us of how magical it must have been some 5,000 years ago to see writing appear for the first time. In dark temples lit only by fire, writing would have appeared like ghosts, impressing our very human thoughts and culture. Today, writing continues to contain the possibilities of magic, but it’s also a drudgery, a casual note tossed while waiting for the subway, a piece of bureaucracy.
But expressed so often as dark text on illuminated paper (or screens, which is probably how you’re reading this right now), writing continues to be one of the great inventions of human society. – millennia old but relatively young in the history of our species and therefore subject to evolution. Through portrayals of black women, Davis asks us to consider the next evolution of writing, moving beyond the patriarchs it has historically captured to a broader range of human experiences. As Roberto Casati, one of the authors whose words appear in Davis’ clay tiles, writes, “the shadow of the earth reveals the true nature of the moon.”
Kenturah Davis: Dark Illumination continues through April 29, 2023 at OXY ARTS (4757 York Blvd, Highland Park, Los Angeles). The exhibition was organized by OXY ARTS with the artist.
