Artist: Davina Semo
Exhibition title: WHERE LIFE IS HAPPENING
Venue: Lyles & King, New York, US
Date: October 9 – November 15, 2015
Photography: images copyright and courtesy of the artist and Lyles & King, New York
SHE WATCHES PEOPLE AS IF THEY CAN’T SEE HER WATCHING. SEVERAL DIGITAL WATCHES BEEP THE HOUR IN SYNC. HELICOPTERS THROB LIKE GIANT APPLIANCES. THE NOISE IS PITCHED TO A LEVEL OF PAIN SHE ABSORBS AS A PERSONAL TEST. SHE WORKS WELL INTO THE NIGHT––HER DESK, AN UNPAINTED TABLE COVERED WITH BOOKS.
SHE DOES NOT SPEAK OR ACT IN A NERVOUS WAY, BUT THERE IS A VIBE OF INTENSE TENSION ABOUT HER. SHE TOUCHES HIM, TOUCHES HERSELF, POINTS TOWARD THE FLOOR. “IT’S GOOD,” SHE WHISPERS. “SOMETIMES I FORGET HOW GOOD IT IS.”
Lyles & King presents a solo exhibition of new work by Davina Semo. With concrete, light, glass, metals, and leather, WHERE LIFE IS HAPPENING reflects on a psychological milieu in US 2015 (if you look at things with your head bent slowly just to the side, that kind of slicing- through, a low-lying mental buzz emerges). Semo’s sculptures address the environment that our bodies move through, and the subjectivity residing within the body. The negotiation between Semo’s written and visual language speaks to the indirect and sometimes confounding dialogues between the self and interpersonal/familial/environmental/professional/financial/cultural/political spheres. This is Semo’s first solo exhibition at Lyles & King.
Davina Semo (b. 1981, Washington D.C.) lives and works in New York City. Semo has had recent solo exhibitions at CAPITAL, San Francisco; Rawson Projects, New York; ribordy contemporary, Geneva; Marlborough Chelsea, New York; and White Flag Library, St. Louis. Semo’s work has been included in numerous group exhibitions at galleries both in the United States and abroad, such as Rolando Anselmi, Berlin; Night Gallery, Los Angeles; Derek Eller, New York; Andrea Rosen, New York; Rodolphe Janssen, Brussels; Nicole Klagsburn, New York; Greene Naftali Gallery, New York; Bureau, New York; Martos Gallery, New York. Semo earned a MFA in Visual Arts from the University of California, San Diego (2006), and a BA in Visual Arts and Creative Writing from Brown University, Providence, RI (2003). Semo is represented by Lyles & King in New York, and ribordy contemporary in Geneva, CH.
Davina Semo, THERE HAS TO BE A FESTIVE FEELING TO THE WORK WE’RE DOING, 2015
Davina Semo, SHE DOES NOT SPEAK OR ACT IN A NERVOUS WAY, BUT THERE IS A VIBE OF INTENSE TENSION ABOUT HER, 2015
Davina Semo, I AM A PATIENT GIRL; I WAIT I WAIT I WAIT I WAIT, 2015
Davina Semo, I AM A PATIENT GIRL; I WAIT I WAIT I WAIT I WAIT, 2015
Davina Semo, I MAKE MYSELF STILL, TO LISTEN, 2015
Davina Semo, I MAKE MYSELF STILL, TO LISTEN, 2015
Davina Semo, THE NOISE IS PITCHED TO A LEVEL OF PAIN SHE ABSORBS AS A PERSONAL TEST, 2015
Davina Semo, LOOK AT NO ONE, REVEAL NOTHING, REMAIN STILL, 2015
Davina Semo, AFTER A WHILE THE SUN MOVES AND THE SUNLIGHT COMES RIGHT ON THE BED, 2015
Davina Semo, AFTER A WHILE THE SUN MOVES AND THE SUNLIGHT COMES RIGHT ON THE BED, 2015