David-Jeremiah I Drive Thee

The Clark presents the fifth installment of its public spaces series with the artist David-Jeremiah (b. 1985, Oak Cliff, Texas; lives and works in Dallas), in his first institutional solo show outside Texas. This exhibition represents an overview of and conclusion to the artist’s cycle of large reliefs, rendered in enamel and rope on wood panel, and titled, collectively, I Drive Thee.

David-Jeremiah’s muse has long been the Lamborghini, a fascination that is as much about the Italian sports car’s morphology, and muscular design, as its mythology, which is steeped in the tradition of Spanish bullfighting. In his semi-abstract works, the artist reads the ritualized violence of the bullfight as a lens on Black American masculinity, drawing out themes of nobility, cowardice, and glory through a singular language of forms. For the Clark, the artist presents a site-specific, multi-media installation that stages the ceremonial cremation of the final work in the series. This exhibition is accompanied by a small illustrated publication featuring the artist’s writing, with its distinctive blend of unflinching incisiveness and mordant humor.

This year-long installation, free and open to the public, is organized by the Clark Art Institute and curated by Robert Wiesenberger, curator of contemporary projects.