Damon Davis
{{short description|American artist, musician, filmmaker}}
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| image = Whose Streets? A Social Cinema Screening (35731793401).jpg
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| caption = Davis at a screening for Whose Streets?, July 2017
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| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1985}}
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| nationality = American
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| alma_mater = St. Louis University
| occupation = Artist, musician, filmmaker
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| organization = Far-Fetched
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| notable_works = "All Hands on Deck"; Whose Streets?
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| website = {{URL|heartacheandpaint.com}}
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Damon Davis (born 1985){{Cite news|url=https://www.citylab.com/equity/2014/12/in-ferguson-and-st-louis-an-artists-quiet-outrage/383388/|title=In Ferguson and St. Louis, an Artist's Quiet Outrage|last=Byrnes|first=Mark|date=December 4, 2014|work=CityLab|access-date=2017-07-12|language=en-US|archive-date=2018-06-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180623061228/https://www.citylab.com/equity/2014/12/in-ferguson-and-st-louis-an-artists-quiet-outrage/383388/|url-status=live}} is a multi-media American artist, musician and filmmaker based in St. Louis, Missouri.{{Cite news|url=https://news.artnet.com/exhibitions/days-before-the-verdict-artist-reclaimed-fergusons-boarded-up-shops-181314|title=Damon Davis's Powerful Ferguson Street Art|last=Milliard|first=Coline|date=2014-11-25|access-date=2016-12-17|language=en-US|newspaper=Artnet News|archive-date=2018-06-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180623113241/https://news.artnet.com/exhibitions/days-before-the-verdict-artist-reclaimed-fergusons-boarded-up-shops-181314|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.stlmag.com/Generation-Now-November-2013/|title=Generation Now|last=Cooperman|first=Jeannette|date=2013-10-18|access-date=2016-12-17|last2=Mahe|first2=George|language=en-US|last3=Medlin|first3=Jarrett|last4=Russell|first4=Stefene|newspaper=St. Louis Magazine|archive-date=2018-03-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180310010834/https://www.stlmag.com/Generation-Now-November-2013/|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.stlmag.com/arts/music/seven-questions-with-multimedia-artist-damon-davis/|title=Seven Questions with Multimedia Artist Damon Davis|last=Crone|first=Thomas|date=2014-11-04|access-date=2016-12-17|language=en-US|newspaper=St. Louis Magazine|archive-date=2016-12-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220202408/https://www.stlmag.com/arts/music/seven-questions-with-multimedia-artist-damon-davis/|url-status=live}} 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,{{Cite web|url=http://www.imposemagazine.com/features/farfetched-labeled|title=FarFetched {{!}} Features {{!}} Impose Magazine|website=www.imposemagazine.com|access-date=2016-12-17|archive-date=2016-12-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220144202/http://www.imposemagazine.com/features/farfetched-labeled|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.riverfronttimes.com/stlouis/farfetched-founder-damon-davis-gets-real-with-solo-debut-loa-act-1/Content?oid=3065619|title=Farfetched Founder Damon Davis Gets Real with Solo Debut LOA: Act 1|last=Schaeffer|first=Christian|website=Riverfront Times|access-date=2016-12-17|archive-date=2016-12-20|archive-url=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|url-status=live}} 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.{{Cite news|url=http://www.riverfronttimes.com/stlouis/because-damon-davis-is-making-afrofuturism-vital/BestOf?oid=3121081|title=Because Damon Davis Is Making Afrofuturism Vital|last=Schaeffer|first=Christian|date=2016|access-date=2016-12-17|newspaper=Riverfront Times|archive-date=2016-12-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161216153028/http://www.riverfronttimes.com/stlouis/because-damon-davis-is-making-afrofuturism-vital/BestOf?oid=3121081|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last1=Zeitchik|first1=Steven|title=True/False Film Fest: Ferguson film 'Whose Streets?,' from the people who filled them|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-ferguson-streets-true-false-20170306-story.html|accessdate=11 July 2017|work=Los Angeles Times|date=6 March 2017|archive-date=10 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170710171047/http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-ferguson-streets-true-false-20170306-story.html|url-status=live}} He attended St. Louis University, initially majoring in fine arts but graduating with a degree in communications.
Career
=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.{{Cite web|url=http://www.complex.com/style/2014/11/street-artist-damon-davis-installs-powerful-hands-up-posters-in-ferguson|title=Street Artist Damon Davis Installed Powerful "Hands Up" Posters on Boarded-Up Shops in Ferguson|last=LaSane|first=Andrew|date=November 25, 2014|website=Complex|language=en|access-date=2017-07-12|archive-date=2017-10-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171022135632/https://www.complex.com/style/2014/11/street-artist-damon-davis-installs-powerful-hands-up-posters-in-ferguson|url-status=live}} 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."{{Cite news|url=https://mic.com/articles/104908/ferguson-now-has-the-most-powerful-street-art-in-america#.qcA8nOC94|title=Ferguson Now Has the Most Powerful Street Art in America|last=Rice|first=Zak Cheney|date=November 24, 2014|work=Mic|access-date=2017-07-12|archive-date=2017-11-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171119120256/https://mic.com/articles/104908/ferguson-now-has-the-most-powerful-street-art-in-america#.qcA8nOC94|url-status=live}}
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."{{Cite news|url=http://www.mcasd.org/exhibitions/damon-davis-all-hands-deck|title=Damon Davis: All Hands On Deck|date=2016-04-04|work=Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego|access-date=2017-07-12|archive-date=2017-06-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170629220955/http://mcasd.org/exhibitions/damon-davis-all-hands-deck|url-status=live}} An original window board from the Ferguson installation is part of the permanent collection at the National Museum of African American History and Culture.{{cite web|title="All Hands on Deck" Window Board|url=https://nmaahc.si.edu/object/nmaahc_2015.192.1?destination=explore/collection/search%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|website=National Museum of African American History and Culture|accessdate=12 July 2017|language=en|archive-date=15 February 2021|archive-url=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|url-status=live}}
=''Whose Streets?''=
{{main|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,{{Cite news|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/sundance-unveils-2017-competition-films-complete-list-951376|title=Sundance Unveils Competition Titles, Including Gulf War Drama, ISIS Doc, Pair of Post-Ferguson Films|newspaper=The Hollywood Reporter|access-date=2016-12-17|archive-date=2016-12-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161213021057/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/sundance-unveils-2017-competition-films-complete-list-951376|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/30/movies/sundance-film-festival-lineup.html|title=Sundance Film Festival 2017: Four Films to Know|last=Barnes|first=Brooks|date=2016-11-30|newspaper=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=2016-12-17|archive-date=2016-12-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161216190440/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/30/movies/sundance-film-festival-lineup.html|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-sundance-2017-lineup-20161129-story.html|title=Sundance Film Festival 2017 likely to feel more political, on purpose or not|last=Olsen|first=Mark|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=2016-12-17|archive-date=2016-12-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161217002236/http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-sundance-2017-lineup-20161129-story.html|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.odt.co.nz/entertainment/film/sundance-documentaries-ferguson-hulk-hogan|title=Sundance documentaries: from Ferguson to Hulk Hogan|date=2016-12-01|newspaper=Otago Daily Times |access-date=2016-12-17|archive-date=2016-12-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220153818/https://www.odt.co.nz/entertainment/film/sundance-documentaries-ferguson-hulk-hogan|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.sundance.org/projects/whose-streets|title=whose-streets|website=www.sundance.org|access-date=2016-12-17|archive-date=2021-02-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210215161502/https://www.sundance.org/projects/whose-streets|url-status=live}} where it received favorable reviews from critics.{{Cite news|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/streets-review-sundance-2017-966410|title='Whose Streets?': Film Review {{!}} Sundance 2017|last=Rooney|first=David|date=January 20, 2017|work=The Hollywood Reporter|access-date=2017-07-11|language=en|archive-date=2017-07-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170719105635/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/streets-review-sundance-2017-966410|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.thefader.com/2017/01/26/whose-streets-documentary-review|title=This New Ferguson Documentary Will Remind You What Really Matters|last=Mejia|first=Paul|date=January 26, 2017|work=The Fader|access-date=2017-07-11|archive-date=2017-05-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170506063320/http://www.thefader.com/2017/01/26/whose-streets-documentary-review|url-status=live}} 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."{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/jan/20/whose-streets-review-ferguson-documentary-sundance-film-festival|title=Whose Streets? review: searing film gives a voice to the people of Ferguson|last=Hoffman|first=Jordan|date=2017-01-20|work=The Guardian |access-date=2017-07-11|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=2017-07-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170710211038/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/jan/20/whose-streets-review-ferguson-documentary-sundance-film-festival|url-status=live}} 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.{{cite news|last1=Hipes|first1=Patrick|title=Sundance Ferguson Doc ‘Whose Streets?’ Lands At Magnolia|url=https://deadline.com/2017/02/whose-streets-ferguson-documentary-magnolia-pictures-1201904087/|access-date=11 July 2017|work=Deadline|date=7 February 2017|archive-date=11 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170511000305/http://deadline.com/2017/02/whose-streets-ferguson-documentary-magnolia-pictures-1201904087/|url-status=dead}} The film will be released on August 11, 2017.{{cite news|url=https://www.vibe.com/2017/05/whose-streets-documentary-trailer/|title='Whose Streets?' Captures Aftermath Of Mike Brown Shooting|date=16 May 2017|work=Vibe|last1=McKinney|first1=Jessica|accessdate=13 July 2017|archive-date=11 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170711213553/https://www.vibe.com/2017/05/whose-streets-documentary-trailer/|url-status=live}}
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{{Cite news|url=http://filmmakermagazine.com/people/damon-davis-and-sabaah-folayan/|title=Damon Davis and Sabaah Folayan|last=Rizov|first=Vadim|access-date=2016-12-17|newspaper=Filmmaker Magazine|archive-date=2016-12-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161225175513/http://filmmakermagazine.com/people/damon-davis-and-sabaah-folayan/|url-status=live}} and Independent Magazine
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://heartacheandpaint.com/ Official website]
- {{IMDb name|8536938|Damon Davis}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Damon}}
Category:21st-century African-American people
Category:20th-century African-American people
Category:African-American artists
Category:African-American film directors
Category:Artists from St. Louis