Moyra Davey
Moyra Davey | |
---|---|
Born | 1958 (age 65–66) Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
Known for | Photographer, video artist, writer |
Moyra Davey (born in Toronto in 1958) is an artist living and working in New York since 1988. Davey works across photography, video, and writing. She is well known for her experimental films that take root in written monologues, her human and animal portraits, and her essays that pair photography and language. She is a graduate of University of California, San Diego, and the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program.
Early life and education
Moyra Davey was born in 1958 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.[1] She grew up in Montreal, where she studied photography and received a BFA from Concordia University in 1982. She then achieved an MFA from the University of California, San Diego in 1988. In 1989, she attended The Whitney Museum of American Art Independent Study Program.[2]
Work
Davey was one of twelve co-organizers of the alternative exhibition space, Orchard, which ran from 2005–2008 on a storefront on Orchard St. in New York’s Lower East Side.[3] The venue presented more than two dozen exhibitions, one of them Davey’s self-organized project “Reality / Play.”[4]
The artist edited the anthology Mother Reader: Essential Writings on Motherhood, published in 2001 by Seven Stories Press in New York. The collection of writings brought together essays and texts by an array of artists, writers and thinkers who spoke plainly and poetically on the topic of motherhood (often their own).[5]
For her 2007 solo exhibition at goodwater gallery, Toronto, Davey mailed some of her photographs to the Canadian gallery through the US postal system, by folding them up to letter size and taping them at the edges.[6] The photographs, affixed with address labels and postage, were cut open, unfolded, installed pinned to the wall, without a frame. This was the beginning of a major and ongoing motif in her photographic practice, which would result in mailed arrangements of photographs in varying scale, including grids of hundreds of photographs at venues such as Portikus, Frankfurt, in 2017.[7]
Davey’s first solo survey, Long Life, Cool White, was organized by Helen Molesworth in 2008 at the Fogg Museum, Harvard University, where she was curator.[8] The exhibition brought together a numerous series of work that Davey had produced over the past few decades, such as “Newsstands” (1994), “Copperheads” (1990–ongoing), “Books & Dust” (1999), and more. A compact book was published alongside the exhibition that included essays by Davey and Molesworth, along with plates of Davey’s photography.[9]
In 2011, Davey completed work on her third short film, Les Goddesses, which followed the artist’s historical fascination with the 18th-century feminist writer Mary Wollstonecraft; her writings, her partner William Godwin, and her progeny. In the film, Davey established a narrative link to the lives of her and her sisters’ Montreal childhood, taking place 200 years later. The work was first screened at greengrassi, London, in 2011, and went on to be featured in venues including the Museum of Modern Art, White Columns, the Whitney Museum of American Art, all New York; ICA and Camden Arts Centre, both London; Museo Jumex, Mexico City; 30a Bienal de São Paulo; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid; Artium Museoa, Vitoria-Gasteiz; the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, among many others. [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]
The 14th installment of Documenta (2017) prominently featured Davey’s work, which was installed across sites in Athens, Greece and Kassel, Germany. For each location, the artist created site-specific large-scale photographic installations, which arrived at their respective venues via regular airmail, as individual prints, folded up and taped.[20] Her work for Athens, Portrait-Landscape, was accompanied by a short film, Wedding Loop, both of which were later exhibited at Galerie Buchholz, Berlin.[21] The accompanying film would later be shown at venues including Film Society of Lincoln Center, New York; British Film Institute, London; Tate, Saint Ives; Museum of Modern Art, New York; and many others.[22][23][24]
In 2020, a collection of Davey’s writings was published by New Directions and Fitzcarraldo Editions, edited by Nicolas Linnert.[25] Titled Index Cards, the paperback included essays on photography, art making, reading and writing, and the historical figures that inspire much of the artist’s work, such as Janet Malcolm, Chantal Akerman, Jean Genet, and many others. The publication comprised over a dozen texts written as early as 2003.[26]
Later in 2020, a major survey of Moyra Davey’s work was featured at the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. The exhibition included many of the artist’s mailed photographic installations, including large scale series such as Subway Writers, 2014, and her ongoing "Copperheads" project, 1990–. Entitled The Faithful, the exhibition also highlighted Davey’s portraiture practice, with subjects ranging from friends and family to equines and wildlife. Her short, essayistic films also received notable attention, with six on display that dated from 2019 on back to the early 90s.[27]
Davey’s first feature film, Horse Opera, premiered in 2022 at the FRONT International in Cleveland, followed by an extensive film festival tour that included premiere screenings at the 47th Toronto International Film Festival (Tiff); 73rd Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale); New Horizons International Film Festival, Wroclaw, Poland; and Fronteira Film Festival, Brasília. The film anchored Davey’s expansive 2022 film survey at Museum of Modern Art, New York, and celebrated New York City’s nightlife culture, juxtaposing a cast of characters frequenting the city’s iconic dance parties, amidst reflections on the aging human body and depictions of socializing equine gatherings, all interrupted by 2020’s extraordinary Covid-19 lockdowns.[28][29][30][31][32][33]
Teaching
Moyra Davey has taught at ICP-Bard College MFA in Advanced Photographic Studies, New York; Vermont College MFA in Visual Arts; and Programme d’Études Postgrades CCC, Geneva.[34][35]
She has also participated in courses, lectures, and panels at institutions including Harvard University, Cambridge; Concordia University, Montreal; Pratt Institute, Brooklyn; Columbia University, New York; Rhode Island School of Design, Providence; School of the Art Institute of Chicago; Museum School of Fine Arts, Boston; and many others.[36][37][38][39]
Exhibitions
Solo presentations of Davey’s films, photography, and writing have been organized at international venues such as The Fogg Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge; Kunsthalle Basel; Tate Liverpool; Art Institute of Chicago; Camden Art Centre, London; MUMOK, Vienna; Bergen Kunsthall, Norway; Portikus, Frankfurt/Main; Ryerson Image Centre, Toronto; Artium Museum of Contemporary Art of the Basque Country, Vitoria-Gasteiz; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery, Concordia University, Montreal.[40] [41] [42] [43] [44] [45] [46] [47] [48] [49] [50] [51] [52]
Her work has been featured in major international exhibitions and biennials, including New Photography 2011, Museum of Modern Art, New York; Whitney Biennial 2012, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; 30a Bienal de São Paulo; Looking Back: 8th White Columns Annual, White Columns, New York; Photo-Poetics: An Anthology, Guggenheim Museum, New York; La Biennale de Montréal, Musée d’Art Contemporain de Montréal; documenta 14, Athens / Kassel, Germany; 2019 Toronto Biennial of Art; and Front International 2022, Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art. [53] [54] [55] [56] [57] [58] [59] [60] [61]
Publications
- Mother Reader: Essential Writings on Motherhood. Edited by Davey (New York: Seven Stories, 2001). ISBN 1583220720
- The Problem of Reading (Los Angeles: Documents Books, 2003). ISBN 0974260509[62]
- Long Life Cool White: Photographs and Essays by Moyra Davey (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Art Museums; New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008). Introduction by Helen Molesworth. ISBN 9780300136463
- Copperheads (Toronto: Byewater Bros. Editions, 2010). ISBN 9780978078935
- Speaker Receiver (Berlin: Sternberg, 2010). Essays by George Baker, Bill Horrigan, Chris Kraus, and Eric Rosenberg, and an interview by Adam Szymczyk. ISBN 9781934105207.
- The Wet and the Dry (Paris: Paraguayress, 2011). Edited by castillo/corrales and Will Holder. ISBN 9782918252115
- Empties (Vancouver: Presentation House, 2013).
- Burn the Diaries (Brooklyn: Dancing Foxes, 2014). ISBN 9780985337728
- I'm Your Fan (London: Camden Arts Centre, 2014).
- Les Goddesses / Hemlock Forest (Brooklyn: Dancing Foxes, 2017). Introduction by Aveek Sen. ISBN 9780998632605
- Gold Dumps and Ant Hills (Berlin: Toupée, 2017). ISBN 9783981735710
- Index Cards: Selected Essays (New Directions, 2020). Edited by Nicolas Linnert. ISBN 9780811229517
- I Confess (Ottawa/Brooklyn: National Gallery of Canada and Dancing Foxes, 2020). Essays by Dalie Giroux and Andrea Kunard. ISBN 9780888849960
Awards
Moyra Davey has received numerous grants, awards, and fellowships, among them the Anonymous Was a Woman Award (2004), Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Award (2010), Scotiabank Photography Award (2018), John Simon Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship (2020), and the Canada Council Governor General’s Award (2022).[63] [64] [65] [66] [67]
Collections
Davey’s work is held in major public collections including Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; Art Institute of Chicago; Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Tate, London; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Centre National des Art Plastiques (CNAP), Paris; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Philadelphia Museum of Art; Museo Jumex, Mexico City; among others.[68] [69] [70] [71] [72] [73] [74] [75] [76] [77] [78] [79]
References
- ^ "Moyra Davey" Archived October 16, 2014, at the Wayback Machine, The Whitney Museum of American Art, Retrieved 23 November 2014.
- ^ Vigier, Janique (May 29, 2020). "An Artist Who Delights in the Minor Key". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 5, 2023.
- ^ "Orchard47". www.47orchard.org. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
- ^ "Orchard47". www.47orchard.org. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
- ^ Dickinson, -Ben; Magazine, Elle. "Mother Reader". sevenstories.com. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
- ^ "Davey-2007 | goodwater gallery". Retrieved August 23, 2024.
- ^ "Moyra Davey "Hell Notes" at Portikus, Frankfurt/Main — Mousse Magazine and Publishing". www.moussemagazine.it. January 1, 2018. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
- ^ Harvard. "Exhibitions, Long Life Cool White: Photographs by Moyra Davey | Harvard Art Museums". harvardartmuseums.org. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
- ^ Davey, Moyra (2008). Long Life Cool White: Photographs & Essays. Harvard University Art Museums. ISBN 978-0-300-13646-3.
- ^ "greengrassi — Moyra Davey Les Goddesses 2011". greengrassi. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
- ^ "Les Goddesses. 2011. Directed by Moyra Davey". MoMA.
- ^ "Looking Back / The 7th White Columns Annual – Selected by Richard Birkett". White Columns. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
- ^ "Screening: Moyra Davey". whitney.org. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
- ^ "life without sheets of paper to be scribbled on is masterpiece - Camden Art Centre". camdenartcentre.org. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
- ^ "Les Goddesses". Museo Jumex. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
- ^ Paulo, Bienal São. "Bienal de São Paulo". www.bienal.org.br (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved August 23, 2024.
- ^ "Moyra Davey - Les Goddesses". www.museoreinasofia.es. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
- ^ "Moyra Davey. Lanak/Obras/Works". artium.eus (in European Spanish). Retrieved August 23, 2024.
- ^ "Moyra Davey: The Faithful".
- ^ "Moyra Davey". www.documenta14.de. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
- ^ Buchholz, Galerie. "Portrait / Landscape — Moyra Davey — Exhibitions — Galerie Buchholz". www.galeriebuchholz.de (in German). Retrieved August 23, 2024.
- ^ "Moyra Davey: Two Premieres". Film at Lincoln Center. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
- ^ Tate. "Virginia Woolf | Tate St Ives". Tate. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
- ^ "Wedding Loop. 2017. Directed by Moyra Davey La Ciénega. 2001. Directed by Lucrecia Martel". MoMA.
- ^ "Moyra Davey's *Index Cards* - Criticism - e-flux". www.e-flux.com. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
- ^ "Index Cards by Moyra Davey | New Directions". www.ndbooks.com. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
- ^ "Moyra Davey: The Faithful". National Gallery of Canada.
- ^ "Moyra Davey". FRONT International. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
- ^ Sicinski, Michael (September 9, 2022). "TIFF 2022 | Horse Opera (Moyra Davey, US) — Wavelengths". Cinema Scope. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
- ^ "Horse Opera". www.berlinale.de. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
- ^ "Końska opera | Front Wizualny | 23. edycja | Archiwum programowe". www.nowehoryzonty.pl (in Polish). Retrieved August 23, 2024.
- ^ "Fronteira Festival". www.fronteirafestival.com. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
- ^ "Horse Opera. 2019–2022. Directed by Moyra Davey". MoMA.
- ^ "People". www.bard.edu. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
- ^ "Moyra Davey". The Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
- ^ "Visiting Artist Talk with Moyra Davey". The Film Study Center at Harvard University.
- ^ "Moyra Davey: The Faithful". Retrieved August 23, 2024.
- ^ "Photography Talk Series". School of Art. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
- ^ "Since 1960: Contemporary Art and the Stakes of Criticism". Department of Theory and History of Art and Design. October 25, 2018. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
- ^ Harvard. "Exhibitions, Long Life Cool White: Photographs by Moyra Davey | Harvard Art Museums". harvardartmuseums.org. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
- ^ "Speaker Receiver • Kunsthalle Basel". Kunsthalle Basel. August 30, 2024. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
- ^ Tate. "Moyra Davey: Hangmen of England | Tate Liverpool + RIBA North". Tate. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
- ^ "Moyra Davey: Les Goddesses". The Art Institute of Chicago. July 19, 2019. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
- ^ "life without sheets of paper to be scribbled on is masterpiece - Camden Art Centre". camdenartcentre.org. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
- ^ "Moyra Davey | mumok". www.mumok.at. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
- ^ "Hemlock Forest". www.kunsthall.no. October 28, 2016. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
- ^ "#210 Moyra Davey : Hell Notes - Portikus Frankfurt". www.portikus.de. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
- ^ "Scotiabank Photography Award: Moyra Davey | The Image Centre". theimagecentre.ca. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
- ^ "Moyra Davey. Lanak/Obras/Works". www.artium.eus (in European Spanish). Retrieved August 30, 2024.
- ^ "Moyra Davey "The Faithful"". National Gallery of Canada.
- ^ "Moyra Davey". MoMA.
- ^ "MOYRA DAVEY: THE FAITHFUL". Retrieved August 30, 2024.
- ^ "New Photography 2011". MoMA.
- ^ "Whitney Biennial 2012". whitney.org. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
- ^ Paulo, Bienal São. "Bienal de São Paulo". www.bienal.org.br (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved August 30, 2024.
- ^ "Looking Back: The Eighth White Columns Annual – Selected by Pati Hertling". White Columns. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
- ^ "Photo-Poetics: An Anthology". The Guggenheim Museums and Foundation. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
- ^ "La Biennale de Montreal 2016". MAC Montreal.
- ^ "documenta 14". www.documenta14.de. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
- ^ "Toronto Biennial of Art 2019 Archive". Toronto Biennial of Art. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
- ^ "Curatorial Statement". FRONT International. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
- ^ "The Problem of Reading available online at Murray Guy Gallery's website".
- ^ "Recipients to Date". Anonymous Was A Woman. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
- ^ "Tiffany Foundation Names 30 Artist Grant Winners". Observer. February 23, 2012. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
- ^ Critic, Murray Whyte Visual Arts (May 8, 2018). "Moyra Davey wins $50,000 Scotiabank Photography Award". Toronto Star. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
- ^ "Moyra Davey – John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation…". Retrieved August 30, 2024.
- ^ "GGArts Winner Archives". Governor General's Awards in Visual and Media Arts. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
- ^ "Murray Guy » biography". Retrieved August 30, 2024.
- ^ "Artist Info". www.nga.gov. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
- ^ "Moyra Davey". www.moca.org. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
- ^ "Davey, Moyra". SFMOMA. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
- ^ "Moyra Davey". The Guggenheim Museums and Foundation. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
- ^ "Moyra Davey". whitney.org. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
- ^ "Moyra Davey". The Art Institute of Chicago. 1958. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
- ^ "Search The Collection - The Metropolitan Museum of Art". www.metmuseum.org. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
- ^ Tate. "'16 Photographs from Paris II', Moyra Davey, 2009". Tate. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
- ^ Tate. "'Copperheads', Moyra Davey, 1990". Tate. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
- ^ "Moyra Davey". MoMA.
- ^ "Moyra Davey". Kemper Art Museum.
External links
- Moyra Davey on Instagram