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Installation view of A Good Sport, paintings by Jeremy Okai Davis.
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Elizabeth Leach Gallery is pleased to present a new series of figurative paintings by Jeremy Okai Davis. In his exhibition titled, A Good Sport, Davis focuses on Black Americans in the fields of sports and academia who navigated complex ideologies of “sportsmanship” throughout their professional careers.
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Installation view of A Good Sport, paintings by Jeremy Okai Davis.
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Several paintings are the largest Davis has ever created for an exhibition and include incredibly expressive, layered brushstrokes that invite the viewer to focus on every detail of the portrait.
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Jeremy Okai DavisWarren Wilson '67 (Herb), 2022acrylic on canvas72 x 84"
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Ranging from the unrecognized heroes of professional baseball and basketball players to Kentucky Derby jockeys and college athletes, the artist’s subjects possess an exalted, emotional depth that transmits beyond the painted surface. In this new body of work Davis’s thoughtful and generous considerations of representation, technique, form and color simultaneously highlight his muses and allow them to embody their own stories.
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Jeremy Okai DavisWink (Jimmy Winkfield), 2022acrylic on canvas84 x 72"
JAMES WINKFIELD
Jimmy Winkfield was a jockey and horse trainer from Kentucky, best known as the last African-American to ride a winner in the Kentucky Derby.
In 1901, Winkfield won 220 races and was one of only five men to win back-to-back Kentucky Derbys (1901-1902). A combination of better money, violence by white jockeys, and intimidation by the Ku Klux Klan forced African-American jockeys to leave the racing game. He traveled to Russia in 1903 and regularly rode winners in Russia, Poland, France, Austria, Hungary, England, Spain and Italy, ultimately winning every marquee race on the continent.
In 1919, Winkfield escaped the Bolshevik’s thundering cannon fire, leading 250 top-tier thoroughbreds, Polish noblemen, and horsemen on a harrowing 1,100-mile three-month journey to a safe haven in Warsaw, Poland.
(SOURCES: Jimmy Winkfield, Wikipedia. The Epic Journey of James Winkfield by Terry Conway, America's Best Racing.)
Animal Locomotion, Plate 626, 1887 by Eadweard Muybridge, picturing jockey G.Domm.
This image was part of Davis’ reference materials in the making of Wink (Jimmy Winkfield), 2022.FURTHER RESEARCH:
Muybridge's photographs not only helped advance understanding of animal motion, but also offer a glimpse into Black success during the Jim Crow era, according to historians – Yoonji Han,Insider
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Installation view of A Good Sport, paintings by Jeremy Okai Davis.
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Jeremy Okai DavisSummit, 2022acrylic on canvas70 x 62"
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Jeremy Okai DavisPearl (Walt), 2022acrylic on canvas60 x 60"
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Jeremy Okai Davis
Untitled (Cheer Squad), 2022acrylic on canvas
36 x 36" -
Jeremy Okai Davis
Untitled (Youth Football), 2022acrylic on canvas
36 x 36"
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Installation view of A Good Sport, paintings by Jeremy Okai Davis.
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Jeremy Okai DavisGwendolyn Knight (A Good Sport l), 2022acrylic on canvas28 x 28"
Gwendolyn Knight
Gwen and Jacob Lawrence, Black Mountain College, 1946. Photo by Nancy Newhall.
Gwendolyn Knight was an American artist who was born in Barbados. She painted throughout her life but didn’t start exhibiting her work until the 1970’s. Her first retrospective was presented in 2003 when she was nearly 90 years old at the Tacoma Art Museum titled, Never Late for Heaven: The Art of Gwen Knight.
Her teachers included the sculptor Augusta Savage and Jacob Lawrence, whom she married in 1941, remaining together until his death in 2000. She received many accolades including the National Honor Award and honorary doctorate degrees from the University of Minnesota and Seattle University.
(SOURCE: Gwendolyn Knight, Wikipedia.)
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Jeremy Okai DavisBlack Gene (Benson), 2022acrylic & pumice medium on canvas84 x 72"
This painting features Gene Benson, who was an outstanding outfielder for the “Negro League” East-West All-Star team in 1940, 1945 and 1946, but spent most of his career with the Philadelphia Stars and was among the best players of his era. (SOURCES: Gene Benson, Wikipedia. Benson, Gene, NLBPA.)
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Jeremy Okai DavisHawk (Connie Hawkins), 2022acrylic on canvas28 x 20"
Connie Hawkins
A New York City playground legend, Connie Hawkins' flamboyant style, artistry, athleticism, and skill propelled the sport of basketball to the next level.
In 1961, while he was at the University of Iowa, Hawkins was falsely accused of being involved in a gambling scheme and was barred from playing in the NBA.
Hawkins became MVP of the short-lived American Basketball League when he was 19. He was added to the ABA MVP five years later, leading the Pittsburgh Pipers to the league's inaugural championship and becoming a poster child for the ABA's flashy style.
When he finally was allowed to join the NBA in 1969, he quickly made his mark by earning a spot on the All-NBA first team with the likes of Willis Reed and Jerry West, playing in four straight NBA All-Star Games.
Hawkins's spectacular game and style was emulated by the next generation of superstars like Julius Erving and Michael Jordan. When he retired after seven seasons with the NBA, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar listed Hawkins as one of the top 15 players he ever competed with or against.
(SOURCES: He Changed the Game, but 'Nobady Knows Who He Is' by Saki Knafo, New York Times. Connie Hawkins: Flying Outside by Ron Flatter, ESPN Classic.)
ABOVE: Newspaper clippings about the Pittsburgh Rens and Hawkins. Images provided by the artist.
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Installation view of Bendu Okai (A Good Sport II), 2022. This portrait depicts the artist’s mother, Bendu Okai, who immigrated to the United States from Liberia by herself at the age of 9.
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Learn more about Davis’ process in this exclusive video interview:
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More Information
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Jeremy Okai Davis: A Good Sport
Past viewing_room
