MÉLANGE curated by Jeremy Okai Davis
Rebecca Boraz | Maria Britton | Anthony R. Grant | Chris Lael Larson

On view February 24–April 7, 2024
Opening reception Saturday, February 24 (4–6pm) 

Nationale is pleased to welcome painter Jeremy Okai Davis as guest curator for the upcoming group exhibition Mélange, opening February 24 in the Project Room. Aptly titled for its array of voices and creative expressions, Mélange features the medley work of artists Rebecca Boraz (Portland, OR), Maria Britton (Carrboro, NC), Anthony R. Grant (Bay Area), and Chris Lael Larson (Portland, OR). Davis describes his curatorial process as a similar mixture of influences, finding thoughtful connections among cherished artistic friendships and new inspired acquaintances. 

Thoughts of Britton’s tactile, breathing draperies bleed into a consideration for works that overlap, collage that mixes media to cement contemporary references. Grant’s dynamic use of text and imagery mirrors Larson’s hidden figuration, an intersection of painting, design, photography, and installation that build to an energetic depth. And in turn, Boraz’s intaglio and woodcut prints advance this familiar tangle between foreground and back, building to an illusion of shapes, lines, and figures—an undercurrent theme shared by each of these artists. As such, Mélange serves as a collective ode to the diligent practice of Davis’s contemporaries, one that he hopes sparks in viewers as inspiring and fulfilling of an experience as it does for him.

Jeremy Okai Davis (b. 1979, Charlotte, NC) received a BFA in Painting from the University of North Carolina in Charlotte, NC. In 2007, Davis relocated to Portland, OR, where he has continued his studio practice in addition to working as a graphic designer and illustrator. His work has been shown nationally at the Studio Museum of Harlem (New York, NY), THIS Los Angeles (Los Angeles, CA), Wa Na Wari (Seattle, WA) and The Rotating Art Program at Portland International Airport (Portland, OR). Davis's work resides in the Lonnie B. Harris Black Cultural Center at Oregon State University and the University of Oregon's permanent collection. He is represented by Elizabeth Leach Gallery. 

Rebecca Boraz is a printmaker and mixed media artist based in Portland, OR. She works predominantly in relief and intaglio printmaking, but has also explored ephemeral mediums, including performance art and zines, as well as ceramics. Boraz spent a year studying printmaking in Florence, Italy, and was trained at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, where she received her BFA in 2006. She holds a Master’s degree in Art Therapy from New York University and has completed artist residencies at Skopelos Foundation for the Arts (Skopelos, Greece) and Running with Scissors Studio (Portland, ME). She has received funding from the Regional Arts and Culture Council and the National Endowment for the Arts, and is represented by The Rental Sales Gallery, Portland Art Museum.

Maria Britton (b. 1982, Florence, SC) currently lives and works in Carrboro, NC. Through her use of everyday materials including used bedsheets, dry permanent markers, and newspapers, Britton transforms materials typically on their way out the door into an opportunity to elevate and extend experiences of liminality. Influenced by clothing construction, bodily orifices, curtains, windows, and cycles in nature, her work is a material exploration of the immaterial. Britton earned her BFA from Winthrop University in Rock Hill, SC, and her MFA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has been included in exhibitions at the North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC; Sumter County Gallery of Art, Sumter, SC; LABspace, Hillsdale, NY; Appalachian State, Boone, NC; Lump, Raleigh, NC; Tempus Projects, Tampa, FL; SOIL Gallery, Seattle, WA; BAM, Brooklyn, NY; and Harbor Gallery, New York, NY, among others, and featured in New American Paintings. Britton has participated in artist residencies through Lighthouse Works, Hambidge Center, Byrdcliffe Arts Colony, Petrified Forest National Park, and Vermont Studio Center.

Anthony Grant (b. 1976, Bronx, NY) is a Bay Area-based collage artist who defies conventional interpretations of his work, inviting viewers to embark on their own journeys of discovery. His art seamlessly blends digital and analog techniques, breathing new life into found and original imagery. Grant’s collages are deeply rooted in his background, drawing inspiration from vintage African American publications, hip hop music, and the complexities of modern society. His work has graced the pages of notable publications such as Black Collagists the Book, Plastikcomb, Collé, The Weird Show, Kolaj Magazine, Artforum, The Atlantic, and Contemporary Collage Magazine. His collages have been exhibited nationally, including in San Francisco at Themes + Projects, Voss Gallery, Bass & Reiner, and B0ardside, and at good neighbor in Baltimore, MD. His work is included in the Doug and Laurie Kanyer Collection (WA).

Chris Lael Larson is a Portland-based artist working in the overlap of photography, assemblage, and painting to create new perceptual experiences. He culls riches from the everyday absurd, forefronting the strange, ridiculous, and confounding ways we connect to each other, the things we consume, and the environments we inhabit. Larson has shown work in over 30 cities across the US, with notable exhibitions at the Berkeley Museum of Art, Portland Institute of Contemporary Art, and the Portland Art Museum NW Film Center. In 2020, he received a grant from the Regional Arts and Culture Council to publish Cape Disappointment, a photo book that documents the visual vernacular of the distinctive towns of the coastal northwest—places where historical, cultural, commercial, and natural forces layer to create a confounding visual melange. Larson is a member of Carnation Contemporary and Wave Contemporary in Portland, OR. He received a BS in Earth Sciences and a BA in Photography from the University of California at Santa Cruz, where he was awarded the Irwin Scholarship for the Visual Arts.

PRESS & MORE
Self Portrait: Painter Jeremy Okai Davis Doesn’t Sleep Much, Matthew Trueherz, Portland Monthly, February 23, 2024
Spring Arts Preview 2024, Ashley Gifford Peterson, Portland Mercury, March 18, 2024

IMAGES

All images © Mario Gallucci courtesy of the Artists and Nationale.
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