DAYTON, OH (NWPR) – Three new exhibitions are on view in the galleries at the Contemporary Dayton located downtown in the Dayton Arcade through January 16, 2022.
“The Empire Is Falling” by Samuel Levi Jones work is comprised of covers of books whose purpose is to influence, educate and inform. In his effort to investigate omissions and falsehoods deeply embedded within these volumes, Jones sews the book covers back together to create uncannily beautiful abstract paintings, often at a large scale.
“Kneel” by Willis ‘Bing’ Davis features a room-sized installation that explores police brutality through “kneelers” created with reclaimed wood sculptures. In the tradition of African Folk Art prayer, the kneelers metaphorically connect Colin Kaepernick’s kneeling protests and the fatal action in the murder of George Floyd.
“The Boat People” by Tuan Andrew Nguyen extracts and re-works narratives via history and supernaturalism is an essential part of Nguyen’s video works and sculptures where fact and fiction are both held accountable. Set in an unspecified future at the precarious edge of humanity’s possible extinction, the film follows a group of children led by a strong-willed and resourceful little girl, who travel the seas and collect stories of a world they never knew through objects that survived through time.
For more information on these exhibits and other programming, see www.codayton.org.