MEMORIES & INSPIRATION: The Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection of Africa American Art

MEMORIES & INSPIRATION: The Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection of Africa American Art

By B. L. Eikner

Installation view at the Gilcrease

The primary purpose for collecting any object is love. An unexplainable emotional and spiritual attachment that grows out of the bottom of one’s soul. Collecting is described as a process or action that makes you feel good, reminds you of your mother or a life changing event, or it simply makes your heart sing.

Kerry Davis a former military man and retired employee of the United States Postal System, collects African American art of all media because he is touched by the faces and places, the moods and messages, and the signs and spirits on the canvases. He is captured by the interactions with the artists in their studios and his strong and intimate relationships that have developed over the past four decades have created life-long friends and new family. Many of these artists traveled with him on their own dollar to Tulsa for the opening of Memories & Inspiration and had an opportunity to discuss and showcase their creative genius during the exhibition tour. Present were Georgia artists Freddie Styles, Kevin Cole, Cynthia Morrison, Sedrick Huckaby, Brenda Thompson, and Lionel Lofton of Houston, Texas.

Kerry’s first purchase was General Toussaint L’Overture by the Internationally known African American painter Jacob Lawrence. Other Internationally known artists such as Elizabeth Catlett, Romare Bearden, Lois Mailou Jones, and Charles White are also in this extensive collection. Kerry has loaned his works to community associations, arts organizations, colleges and universities, and private social groups for classroom and educational support in his home state of Georgia.

Showcasing this tremendous collection of works of art, Memories & Inspiration: The Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection of African American Art is currently on view at the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa and runs through July 26, 2020. This exhibition is part of an extensive collection that the Davis’s started in the mid 1980s in their home, which now has amassed to over 300 pieces.

This is the first time that any part of the collection has been exhibited outside of Atlanta, Georgia. The next stops are Richmond, Virginia; Ocala, Florida; and West Virginia (city site not finalized as of press time).

The collection at Gilcrease Museum has a total of sixty-two pieces. The works range from collage on board to oil on canvas, sculptures to wood cuts, mixed media to watercolors, and hand colored engraving on copper to photography.

The exhibit covers the life experiences, religion and work, positive and negative community triumphs, tragedies, courage, and perseverance of being Black and living in America.

A collage on board by John T. Riddle, Jr. (1933-2002) entitled, Stain Glass Windows 1988 provides ghostly images of the four young girls who lost their lives in the bombing of the 16 th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, the Statue of Liberty, parts of the Declaration of Independence, and the dates 1883-1963 which brought back memories of the organized group of terrorists who took the lives of innocent children and a country slow to move legalizing citizenship and the right to vote to all.

However, as you move through the gallery, the watercolor of Lois Mailou Jones (1905- 1988), St. Michelle, France 1958, reminds the artist and the viewer that the quiet solace and comforting arms of the French landscape was a reason many African Americans made the decision to travel to the countryside and cities of France and other European countries where freedom to create, live and grow existed in the 1940s, 50s and 60s for all people.

This collection moves in many directions and one you must see at least three times to capture the many messages from the myriad images and views of artists with different eyes and spirits on the world in which they live and work.

9 review (continued to page 10) The exhibition includes a video presentation for guests featuring Tulsa teacher, Written Quincy; members of the Black Moon Collective; Poet, Deborah Hunter; Tulsa City Representative, Dwain Midget; Community Partner, Michelle Anderson, of Jack and Jill; and State Representative Regina Goodwin

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Kerry Davis, Susan Neal (executive Director), and C. Betty Davis-courtesy Gilcrease Museum; Claude Clark, Self Determination, photo by Reis Birdwhistle; Charles White, Lily; Quraysh Ali Lansana, (curator and moderator), Dr. Amaki (curator) and Kerry Daviscourtesy Don Thompson; Kevin Cole and Linda Jenkins.

ABOVE: Installation view at the Gilcrease LEFT: Attendees at the exhibit

(who is also an artist) reviewing their support of and concerns for arts in the community. Curator Quraysh Ali Lansana of Tri City Collections is the host.

This exhibition is connected to Tulsa, Oklahoma by the creation of fifteen thematic panels that share stories, short essays, and history of the African American life in Oklahoma to fifteen specific artworks in the exhibition. These panels are called Gateways to Tulsa and were written by members of the Tri City Collective. The curator has selected for example the artwork entitled, Mickey Dees 1987, by Michael Ellison (1952-2001) and connected this image to the social issue of food deserts in the Black community of Tulsa and its negative impact on health, education, and economic development. Each thematic panel hangs next to the artist statement of the selected artwork. The Gilcrease hosted a special program on January 25 th entitled, Black Collectors: For, By, and About Us with Dr. Amalia Amaki of Atlanta, Georgia, Quraysh Ali Lansana (special curator and moderator), Kerry Davis (Collector), Allison Rossi (Director of Learning and Community Engagement), and Susan Neal, Executive Director.

Other special events for this exhibition include Fun Day Sunday, March 15 th , April 19, May 17th, June 21 st , and July 19th with free admission all day from 11 am to 5 pm, and Gilcrease After Hours (GAH), Friday, March 27 th , April 24th, May 22nd, and June 26th from 7 pm to 10 pm.

This is a great opportunity to include this exhibition and tour as part of your artistic travels and educational moments. Build your memories and be inspired. Memories & Inspiration: The Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection of African American Art was organized and toured by International Arts & Artists of Washington D. C. The exhibit is funded in part by Oklahoma Humanities (OH) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). n

B. L. Eikner is author, writer, journalist, poet and event planner. She has published two books of poetry, Dirt and Hardwood Floors and How Do You Love …When? She is owner of Trabar & Associates, which provides artist with PR and management services and is a regular contributor to Art Focus and The Oklahoma Eagle. She can be reached at trabar@windstream.net, or Twitter @trabar1

David Holland, Shadow Player, 2020, oil on canvas, 18”x24”

A celebration. That’s how Oklahoma Citybased artists Barbara Scott and David Holland describe their upcoming exhibition From Earth to Sky. The two are celebrating their artistic paths, which have been intertwined for over 30 years, and celebrating the Oklahoma arts community that has been a vital source of knowledge and support.

The nature-loving pair met, appropriately, at a local garden center in the summer of 1987. Their initial meeting turned into a decades-long friendship which has nourished their growth as individuals and artists. Both experienced frequent moves early in life. However, it was here in the fertile ground of Oklahoma that they were able to plant roots and begin to grow.

The artists are quick to acknowledge that their artistic journeys would not be the same without the support and resources offered by the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition (OVAC). The organization, founded by John McNeese in 1988, allowed Scott and Holland opportunities to obtain professional skills associated with the business of art by attending workshops and seminars, exhibiting in 12x12 Art Fundraiser, and receiving artist grants. While perhaps the most powerful part of this exhibition is the underlying friendship and journey between the two artists, viewers will be captivated by the works themselves. Upon entering the gallery space at the GaylordPickens Museum in Oklahoma City, visitors will encounter a variety of works: Holland’s skyscapes meticulously captured in oil paint and Scott’s emotionally driven free-standing sculptures and sculptural wall hangings. Even if guests know nothing of the pair’s intertwined backgrounds, Holland hopes they will see the connections in the pieces themselves which are rooted in nature, spiritual, highly dimensional, and composed of simplified forms.

Titles such as Simple Wonder, On the Verge of Unknown Skies, and The Prayer of a Heart, immediately point to the spiritual nature of Barbara Scott’s work, meaningful phrases reinforced by their figural forms. In Ladder of Success, an open-palmed hand sits atop seventeen rungs of a slightly crooked ladder. One pole of the ladder, dark and textured, stands straight and tall, unwavering. The other pole, light and smooth, curves, undulating with the rhythm of a plant emerging from the ground and growing toward the light. The rungs of the ladder, themselves twisted, connect the two supports, spanning their distance at points both wide and narrow. Tethers, though often associated with restriction, here seem to symbolize strength and stabilization, ensuring the wavering arm never strays too far from the erect enigmatic constant.

One can imagine each step of the journey bringing both pain and pleasure, confidence and doubt. There is a directionality, the hopeful pointing upward, and a serenity symbolized by a single butterfly resting on the hand’s index finger. Despite not knowing what is next, there is optimism that the result of the climb will result in both success and peace.

Those familiar with David Holland’s work will immediately recognize his stunning skyscapes. Hungry for a River, Water Unfolding, and On the Shoulders of Others, each 16” x 20”, will hang alongside The Shadow of Water, a never before seen 48” x 72” panoramic sunset thunderstorm scene created specifically for the exhibition.

Another piece new to audiences is Shadow Player. This depiction of towering cumulus and cumulonimbus clouds during a daytime Oklahoma storm beautifully highlights the technical skill of Holland’s brushwork and use of color contrasts to create depth. The rippled layers of clouds billow outward with exquisite realism. The storm’s beauty and power are on full display. Trees along the horizon line provide a sense of scale, revealing the expansiveness of the storm clouds suspended above.

To achieve his end product, Holland actively monitors weather conditions, seeking out and photographing storms which will then serve as his source images. “Clouds change very quickly, both their shape and their color,” he explains. “Their motion is almost imperceptible to our eyes, yet when I look at the photos I’ve taken of a storm, even though [they] may have been taken only seconds apart, if I compare two shots side by side, I can see huge differences between them.”

As a prelude to the works themselves, which have both a surface value and a deeper meaning upon closer inspection, the show’s title, From Earth to Sky, similarly has layers. Scott notes that on a casual glance, her pieces constructed in wood and depicting both humans and animals would be reflective of the earth, while Holland’s literal views of storms captured in time with oil paint would be reflective of the sky. Which is true, but it’s not the whole truth, to borrow a quote from existentialist Bernard Jaffe. Scott elaborates, “With a deeper awareness it can be seen that, though my materials are so physical and tangible in nature, my work is always reaching up, reaching up to express what is beneath and beyond the physical. While David, in his work of ethereal skies, is actually very businesslike, grounded in practicality, and pragmatism in his love of painting what actually physically exists.”

Given their strong ties to Oklahoma and their appreciation for the support of the local community, it seems only fitting for this joint celebration to be on display at the GaylordPickens Museum. Director of Museum Experience, Donna Merkt, notes, “We always want our viewers to walk away from exhibits feeling proud and inspired as Oklahomans. Our state is home to such amazing, creative people. This exhibit reveals both the talents of our people and the beauty of our state.”

From Earth to Sky: The Art of Barbara S. Scott and David Holland is on view June 2 - September 10, 2020 in the Tulsa World | Lorton Family Gallery at the Gaylord-Pickens Museum, home of the Oklahoma Hall of Fame, located at 1400 Classen Drive in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. A free reception is scheduled for Thursday, June 4, 2020 from 5-7pm. Museum hours are Tuesday through Friday 9am-5pm and Saturday 10am-5pm. Admission is $7 for adults. To learn more or to redeem free Barbara Scott, Ladder of Success, basswood, cedarwood, gold leaf, 25” x 8” x 4”

passes, visit oklahomahof.com/plan-yourvisit. For more information on the artists, visit barbarascottartist.com and davidhollandartist.com. n

Kerry Azzarello lives and works in Oklahoma City. She often marvels at Oklahoma sunsets and tries to have faith that taking the first step will lead to the next one in perpetuity. She can be reached at kerryazzarello@gmail.com.