Karon Davis : Pain Management
Wilding Cran Gallery presents Pain Management, a solo exhibition of new work by Karon Davis on view September 17 - November 12, 2016. This is the artist's first solo exhibition in Los Angeles since 2012 and features an installation of work that reflects on the physical and emotional experience of pain and loss.
Davis recreates the hospital-bound world in which she and her husband lived for so long. With eight figurative sculptures in total, each is created out of plaster casts and shredded medical bills. Three nurses dressed in colourful scrubs are placed throughout the gallery. Each nurse plays a different role, an angel, an ominous scarecrow and a stoic caretaker. Four sculptures of children, which Davis calls Children of the Moon, represent the spiritual realm and the preservation of memories and health. Inspired by Davis' interest in the Egyptian practice of mummification, they are delicate shells, incomplete casts, presenting an ethereal and dreamy effect.
In the middle of the gallery sits a larger-than-life tissue box sculpture titled Cry, Baby as an offering to release the pain and remind us of the catharsis of crying.
This world that Davis is mirroring in her installation is a liminal space - a realm that hangs capriciously between hallucination and reality; that space between life and death. It is a place defined by what it offers: relief from pain. It is both the intoxicating, psychedelic relief offered by opioid pain medication, as well as the warm, restful safety of the spiritual realm.
The show asks viewers to consider: What do you do for the pain? Is it possible to transcend? If so, how?
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Karon DavisOya, 2016Plaster, wire, paper, plastic pipe, glass eyes, & gold leafed insect28 3/4 x 30 3/4 x 18 inches
73 x 78.1 x 45.7 cm. -
Karon DavisMikail, 2016Plaster, wire, paper, plastic pipe, glass eyes, & artificial grass98 x 21 x 37.5 in.
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Karon DavisGabriel, 2016Plaster, wire, paper, plastic pipe, glass eyes, tissue, & plastic flowers54 1/2 x 16 1/2 x 23 inches
138.4 x 41.9 x 58.4 cm. -
Karon DavisCry Baby, 2016Wood, wire mesh, plaster, bandage and acrylic paint112 x 52.5 x 52.75 in.
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Karon DavisMorphine, 2016Plaster, cloth, acrylic paint, synthetic hair, clothing, wire, shredded bills, wood, & mirror43.75 x 36 x 66 in.
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Karon DavisNicotine, 2016Plaster, cloth, oil paint, synthetic hair, clothing, wire, shredded bills, coffee cup, wood, mirror & cigarette50 1/2 x 50 1/4 x 31 inches
128.3 x 127.6 x 78.7 cm. -
Karon DavisMawu, 2016Plaster, wire, paper, plastic pipe & glass eyes, basket & tissues37 x 31.5 x 47 in.
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Karon DavisMary, 2016Plaster, wire, paper, plastic pipe, & glass eyes44 x 33.5 x 38.5 in.
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Karon DavisIsosfamide, 2016Plaster, cloth, acrylic paint, synthetic hair, clothing, wire, shredded bills, burlap, & wood.80.5 × 62 × 11.5 in.
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Karon DavisMonsanto Memorial Garden, 2016Mixed media80 1/2 x 132 x 156 inches
204.5 x 335.3 x 396.2 cm. -
Karon DavisWaiting Room, 2016Mixed mediaDimensions variable
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Pain Management
Catherine Taft, Artforum - January, 2017 print edition, January 1, 2017 -
Helen Molesworth
Helen Molesworth, Artforum - December, 2016 print edition, December 1, 2016 -
Pain Management. Critics Pick
Amanda Cachia, Artforum, October 5, 2016 -
Pain Management. Karon Davis' 'Pain Management' plumbs loss and love in a tribute to her late husband, Noah Davis
Deborah Vankin, Los Angeles Times, September 30, 2016
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Pain Management. Karon Davis Mourned the Loss of Her Husband, Artist Noah Davis, By Turning Grief Into Art
Matt Stromberg, LA Weekly, September 28, 2016 -
Pain Management
Max King Cap, Artillery Magazine, September 28, 2016 -
Pain Management. Karon Davis’ “Pain Management” at Wilding Cran
Genie Davis, Art And Cake, September 24, 2016
