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Robert Davis: Home
On View
March 4, 2021 — July 11, 2021
Location
The Box
Robert Davis: Home is an ode to the 1970s that features drawings and sculptures by Norfolk native Robert Davis. Growing up in Hampton Roads in the 1970s, the artist has memories of local landmarks such as the Oceanview Amusement Park and his family’s home in the Wellington Oaks neighborhood.
He also recalls the popular culture of the decade with images of actress Esther Rolle from the sitcom Good Times, stunt performer Evel Knievel, and Boston Celtics forward Larry Bird. His pencil drawings are detailed depictions of his childhood and adolescent impressions of the area and the historical moment.
As viewers see Davis’s imagery of influential artists, sports stars, celebrities, iconic interior design, and psychedelic patterns and designs, they will witness the years that shaped the artist’s life experiences and art. His work will spark nostalgia for young love, disco music, and hair flips. Younger viewers may wonder at the flamboyant nature of the clothing, music, and attitude.
“Robert Davis’s work is so beautiful and skillfully done as he conveys an impressionable time in his life, and I’m incredibly excited to showcase his pieces at the Chrysler Museum. I’ve heard so many stories of the iconic Oceanview Amusement Park and how it was such a big part of so many people’s childhoods here in Hampton Roads. Moreover, though I was born in 1980, I remember watching Larry Bird and Esther Rolle and listening to records. Davis’s images are fun time capsules.”
–Kimberli Gant, the Chrysler Museum’s McKinnon Curator of Modern & Contemporary Art
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