VAUGHN DAVIS JR: THE FABRIC OF OUR TIME
2023 Kranzberg Exhibition Series Artist

August 26 - December 17, 2023
Aronson Fine Arts Center / Northern Grove

Vaughn Davis Jr. produces vibrant, expressive, organic, shape-shifting objects that teeter between painting, performance, and sculpture. While Davis builds on principles of painting movements like Abstract Expressionism, he challenges painting’s traditional methods by shunning stretcher bars, tearing apart the canvas support, and draping and folding the materials instead of leaving them flat against the wall. In doing so, he dismantles the picture plane, calls attention to the performative nature of painting, tests its boundaries as moments cross into sculpture, and meditates on the passage of time and change.

In each of his sizable two-sided paintings, the canvas has multiple expressions of manipulation–spilled paint, soaked dye and frayed fabric–creating a spectacle of actions Davis has enacted on the materials. His brightly hued canvases, covered in drips and dynamic racing stripes are created through a performative and reactive approach that Davis refers to as “freestyle.” As a fan of jazz music, his methodology is similar in spirit, thriving on improvisation. Each crinkle and fold in these dimensional paintings has a unique rhythm.

The Fabric of Our Time also marks a significant development in his body of work. Davis’ tower shaped works have literally become sculptures. His series of wall mounted pillars, with draped and wrapped paintings around a built architecture are inspired by the flux of a worksite on a busy city street. These pieces are an evolution of earlier works utilizing shelving as display mechanisms, taking them away from the wall and introducing a new dimensional aspect. With this series, Davis seems to dive deeper into his examination of painting and to liberate the warp and weft of a traditional material to explore movement, time, and space.

Davis applies a similar tactile approach in his ceramic works, folding and splitting clay and using plush glaze techniques, introducing a new perspective on traditional media as he unveils its gestural and pliable qualities.

Like his paintings, Davis’ handmade flags, located in the Northern Grove, utilize his process of expressive markings and deliberate deconstruction and reconstruction. Forgoing the more contemporary printing method, Davis has chosen to create a series of free-waving paintings, entering into a direct collaboration with nature. These pieces complicate some of the traditional functions of flags, such as group identity affirmation, nationalism, and morale building during conflict.

Davis’ distress of materials, in part, refers to daily labor and social protest, especially for Black and Brown communities. But this is just one facet of the work. Depending on the day, for Davis, artmaking can represent personal struggle, political resistance and/or act as a simple poetic gesture. Paradoxically, seemingly destructive acts are in fact generative, as the tearing of canvas or collapse of clay is ultimately necessary for the completion of his expression.

Public Programs

EXHIBITION OPENING / Saturday, August 26 from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. / Free
The public is invited to celebrate the opening of the exhibition, which includes a conversation between Vaughn Davis Jr. and Curator Dana Turkovic at noon in the Aronson Fine Arts Center.

DISCOVER LAUMEIER / Sunday, August 27 / 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. / Free
Discover Laumeier invites people of all ages to explore Laumeier’s 105 acres, uncover the inspiring effects of artmaking, and soak in the calming and restorative benefits of the natural landscape. Among the day’s free offerings will be a project led by Vaughn Davis Jr. inviting visitors to contribute to the making of a large-scale, collaborative painting. Learn more.

LECTURE / Friday, September 8 / 12 p.m. / Webster University, 8300 Big Bend Blvd., Sverdrup Hall, Room 123 / Free
Join Vaughn Davis Jr. for an artist talk to learn about his artistic practice and his current exhibition, The Fabric of Our Time, at Laumeier.

FAMILY WORKSHOP: Painting as Sculpture / Saturday, September 16 / 1–3 p.m. / $45
Bring your painting into another dimension with inspiration from Vaughn Davis Jr.’s exhibition. Transform a flat surface into sculpture and use color to distinguish the different shapes and layers that you create. Designed for ages 4 to 12, accompanied by an adult. The $45 registration fee covers one child and one adult. Register.

CAMPFIRE CHAT: Artist Vaughn Davis Jr. + Cultural Thinker in Residence AK Brown / Thursday, October 5 / 6:30 p.m. / Free
Enjoy hot cocoa and s’mores around the campfire with Kranzberg Exhibition Series artist Vaughn Davis Jr. and Laumeier's Cultural Thinker in Residence AK Brown. Join Davis and Brown for an explorative discussion ranging from textile design, personal expression to social protest and the intersection of art and fashion. Taking inspiration from Davis' exhibition and Brown's fashion industry focus, we encourage guests to wear their own fashion statement exploring material, deconstruction and reconstruction and expressive color patterns. Registration required.

Artist Biography

Vaughn Davis Jr. received his BFA in 2017 from Webster University, St. Louis. His work has been exhibited at Craft Alliance, St. Louis; Philip Slein Gallery, St. Louis; Malin Gallery, New York; The Luminary, St. Louis; Gazebo Gallery, Kent, OH; among others. He has had solo exhibitions at Romer Young Gallery, San Francisco; Dragon Crab & Turtle, St. Louis and Monaco Gallery, St. Louis. Davis lives and works in St. Louis.

2023 Exhibitions are supported by Alison and John Ferring, Ken and Nancy Kranzberg, Joan and Mitchell Markow and Two Sisters Foundation, Emily Rauh Pulitzer, and Mary Ann and Andy Srenco.

Vaughn Davis Jr. is supported by Whitaker Foundation. Davis is the 2023 Kranzberg Artist. This fund, generously provided by Ken and Nancy Kranzberg, supports the presentation of new work by one or more St. Louis area artists per year.