Davon Brantley - "We Not Linkin"

The lack of connection and understanding has been blooming within the year of 2020 and this work is dedicated to bridging that gap. Society has become increasingly divisive; there is and always has been a lack of empathy and compassion for the trials and tribulations of minorities’. There is irrational anger, violence and aggression directly targeted towards people of color. Everyday there seems to be a battle between those who see us , those who understand that our perceptions and experiences of the world are different because of our identities and the burdens that goes with that and those who just don’t get any of that. There is this constant battle between those who understand us as flesh and blood humans with valid feelings that should matter and those who do not believe in the fact that people of color are in fact “people.” This latter group seems to believe that we just scream and shout demands for equality, love and respect. They tell themselves, and broadcast this fantasy to others, that we don’t contribute to society, that we kill our own, that we are lazy, greedy , lustful, aggressive and imagine us as monsters to be feared… I have decided to subvert this negativity through self-portraiture.
“We Not Linkin’ ” utilizes the dark fantasies directed towards people of color and flips these scenarios in a way that consecrates rather than demonizes. Through self-portraiture, I guide the audience through my own narratives involving experiences of colorism, racial stereotyping, and meditations on death, life, sexuality and masculinity. Through the use of my own image, the viewer is presented with images of someone who is not themselves, who may or may not share the same experiences as them and someone who is actively disrupting expectations based on identity. My work takes on commonly held biases through imagery and confrontational scale. In my work I reference Renaissance and Baroque portraiture and religious paintings, two eras of art history that are almost exclusively lacking in depictions of people of color. I place myself within this history through my work. You are presented with a body of color that sits alongside the saints of Caravaggio’s making. My work provides a narrative that fills in those absences and offers a glimpse of an aspirational soul.