Press Release

Mrs. and Fire Island Artist Residency are proud to sponsor a suite of thirteen unique works by Damien Davis.  All proceeds of the sales of these new, exclusive sculptures will go directly to a selection of thirteen organizations committed to the amplification of Black voices within art, design, culture and social justice. Mrs. and FIAR are committed to reexamining and challenging our ongoing understanding and response to the effects of systemic racism in our culture which includes frequent acts of violence inflicted on Black people.  Both of our organizations are grateful to Davis for permitting us to play a role in his own ongoing efforts to meet and address these enormous cultural challenges. Please consider adding one of these exciting new works by this artist to your collection today. Together with Davis we can all support these organizations to create real solutions for the injustices facing the Black community. 

Davis’ practice seeks to unpack the visual language of Black cultures, questioning how we code/decode/recode representations of race through craft, design and digital modes of production. For this fundraiser, Davis has chosen to deepen his exploration of the formal possibilities of his iconic “Black power button pick,” a riff on the iconic Black fist Afro comb, an evocative symbol of Black pride that rose to prominence in the second half of the twentieth century.

While this object was a source of pride for the Black Diaspora, it was simultaneously demonized by others for its political nature in relation to Black Power. It was not uncommon in the 1970s and 1980s (and still today) for police to confiscate afro combs because of their perceived potential use as weapons. In these works, for Davis “the fist has been transformed into a power button based on the glyph’s history as a binary switch (the “1” and the “0” literally becoming one); an acknowledgment of a hopeful, almost futurist stance on what being Black in a digital age has the potential to look like; and a declaration that Blackness will indeed exist in the future. Not only do we use our fists to dismantle an unjust system, but also our minds, our resources, our technology, and our collective willpower.”

Damien Davis (b. 1984), holds a BFA in Studio Art and an MA in Visual Arts Administration from New York University.  His works have appeared at The Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of Arts and Design, New York, NY and various galleries across the country. He is the recipient of the Rema Hort Mann Foundation Community Engagement Grant and has been awarded residencies with Triangle Arts Association, the Museum of Arts and Design, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Pilchuck Glass School and Sugar Hill Children’s Museum of Art and Storytelling. Davis is currently an artist in residence at Dieu Donné Paper Mill in Brooklyn, NY.  He is also a former fellow and current advisor for the Art & Law Program in New York.  Davis lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.

The artist has chosen thirteen organizations that amplify underrepresented Black voices in the arts.  Each piece is assigned to support a specific organization. To acquire a work, a collector must provide its corresponding organization with direct, financial support.  It is Davis’ wish that this project will both raise money and awareness for the amazing work already happening for and by Black people in the arts.  This suite of works are temporarily being offered at a discount to encourage sales and benefit the organizations chosen by the artist more swiftly.

Please consider learning more about and making a donation of any size to the following:

Black Women’s Blueprint
Black Artists and Designers Guild
Arts Administrators of Color Network
Afrotectopia
The Black School
Sugar Hill Children's Museum of Art and Storytelling
Northwest African American Museum
Black Lunch Table
The Laundromat Project
Black Art Futures Fund
Marsha P. Johnson Institute
Black Trans Femmes in the Arts
Weeksville Heritage Center

To view, reserve, or acquire one of these iconic original works by Damien Davis, please contact hello@mrsgallery.com.  In person viewings will be by appointment only via See Saw.  Visits are limited to 30 minutes each with a maximum of two guests at a time.  The safety of our visitors, staff, and community is of utmost importance. In accordance with New York State health guidelines, we require all guests to wear masks and practice social distancing while at the gallery.  For those who cannot physically visit the gallery, please explore our website or our viewing room.