Jeremy Okai Davis | A Good Sport | Viewing Room
1 : a person who is not rude or angry about losing.
2 (informal, old-fashioned) : someone who is kind or generous.
Be a good sport and let him play with you.
Installation view of A Good Sport, paintings by Jeremy Okai Davis.
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.
Installation view of A Good Sport, paintings by Jeremy Okai Davis
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.
Jeremy Okai Davis, Warren Wilson '67 (Herb), 2022, acrylic on canvas, 72 x 84"
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Warren Wilson ‘67 (Herb), 2022 (detail). This painting depicts the artist’s father, Herb Davis, with his basketball team and the cheerleading squad at Warren Wilson College, outside of Asheville, NC. The painting in the background is a reproduction of a work by Gwendolyn Knight.
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.
Jeremy Okai Davis, Wink (Jimmy Winkfield), 2022, acrylic on canvas, 84 x 72", SOLD
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
Installation view of A Good Sport, paintings by Jeremy Okai Davis.
BILL RUSSELL & THE MUHAMMED ALI SUMMIT
Photo by John G. Zimmerman.
Bill Russell was a twelve-time NBA All-Star, a five-time
NBA MVP, and played center for the Boston Celtics.
Russell was born in Monroe, LA on February 12, 1924 and died on July 31, 2022 in Mercer Island, WA. He is tied with Henri Richard of the
National Hockey League for the most championships won by
an athlete in a North American Sports League. Russell is
widely considered to be one of the greatest basketball players
of all time.
On June 4, 1967, Muhammed Ali and a group of leading African-American
athletes held a press conference in Cleveland after Ali
announced he was refusing to serve in the US military in
Vietnam. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jim Brown, Bill Russell and
Carl Stokes were some of the athletes and political figures
who took part in the Summit and are pictured in the background of this painting.
(SOURCE: Bill Russell, Wikipedia.)
Jeremy Okai Davis, Summit, 2022, acrylic on canvas, 70 x 62"
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Jeremy Okai Davis, Pearl (Walt), 2022, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 60"
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WALTER PEARL DAVIS
The artist's uncle, Walter Pearl Davis, is a six-time NBA All-Star and was a forward/guard for fifteen years. He played with the Phoenix Suns
(1977-1988), the Denver Nuggets (1988-1991 & 1992) and the
Portland Trailblazers (1991).
Davis was called “Sweet D”
due to his seemingly effortless, smooth style and
strong defensive technique.
(SOURCE: Walter Davis (Basketball), Wikipedia.)
Watch this highlight from March 30, 1979 of the Phoenix Suns vs. the Seattle Supersonics in which Davis scores 40 points, forcing overtime and winning the game.
Jeremy Okai Davis, Untitled (Cheer Squad), 2022, acrylic on canvas, 36 x 36", SOLD
Jeremy Okai Davis, Untitled (Youth Football), 2022, acrylic on canvas, 36 x 36", SOLD
Installation view of A Good Sport, paintings by Jeremy Okai Davis.
Jeremy Okai Davis, Gwendolyn Knight (A Good Sport l), 2022, acrylic on canvas, 28 x 28", SOLD
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.)
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.)
Jeremy Okai Davis, Black Gene (Benson), 2022, acrylic & pumice medium on canvas, 84 x 72"
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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.
Jeremy Okai Davis, Hawk (Connie Hawkins), 2022, acrylic on canvas, 28 x 20", SOLD
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.
Learn more about Davis’ process in this exclusive video interview:
MORE INFORMATION
THE EXHIBITION
AVAILABLE WORK
PRESS
Photo by Liz Devine.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Jeremy Okai Davis (b. Charlotte, NC) received a BFA in painting from the University of North Carolina in Charlotte, NC. Davis relocated to Portland, OR in 2007 where he has continued his studio practice in addition to working as a graphic designer and illustrator. His work has been shown nationally at the Studio Museum of Harlem (New York, NY), THIS Los Angeles (Los Angeles, CA), Wa Na Wari (Seattle, WA) and The Rotating Art Program at Portland International Airport (Portland, OR). Davis's work resides in the Lonnie B. Harris Black Cultural Center at Oregon State University and the University of Oregon's permanent collection. Elizabeth Leach Gallery began representing Jeremy Okai Davis in 2019.
Take a look inside Davis’ studio in this video interview from 2021 when he received the Art & Social Justice Award from Cascade Behavioral Healthcare.