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Laura Davis & Derrick Woods-Morrow
Thanks for not breeding

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Thanks for not breeding

Laura Davis & Derrick Woods-Morrow
9.06.2019 – 10.19.2019
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​Aspect/Ratio Projects is pleased to present Thanks for not breeding, a two person exhibition with Laura Davis and Derrick Woods-Morrow. The works in Thanks for not breeding will focus on dualities of work and play, assessing and challenging the otherwise normative notions of such acts. Davis will create an installation of sculptural objects and projection which freezes time while alluding to stress; whereas Woods-Morrow references a performative space for play as an act of disruption. While both are seemingly contradictory, each asserts to question heteronormativity and the gaze.

Both Laura Davis and Derrick Woods-Morrow are Chicago based artists who have received an Artadia Award (Davis in 2015, Woods-Morrow in 2018), participated in BOLT residency (Davis in 2013, Woods-Morrow in 2018), and were included in exhibitions at the MCA Chicago: Davis in Homebodies, curated by Naomi Beckwith in 2013 and Woods-Morrow in-progress, curated by January Parkos Arnall in 2019.

Laura Davis is a multi-disciplinary artist interested in objects and craft. Her works both present their own histories but easily adapt to Davis’ recontextualization of them. She wields and contradicts assumed archetypes of gendered roles, reimagining new relationships by creating handcrafted metal sculpture combined with gender specific ready made objects. Further, her interactions disrupt notions of value at the intersections of art, design, and craft.    

Derrick Woods-Morrow, often reassesses material in his work. By deploying a wide variety of media– including photographic material, ceramic sculpture, film, and narrative performance, he attempts to reconcile the painful, personal and shared experiences of existing as black & queer in America. His works asks what it would mean to imagine a past and future where bodies like his own can exist as ‘whole’ —to not perpetually labor merely in order to exist, but to thrive and play; to be renewed.


Click here for Press Release PDF Version

Press
・   in Sixty Inches from Center, 9/1 Thanks for not breeding
・   Thanks for not breeding in Top 5 for NewCity, 8/27
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LAURA DAVIS, End of the Line 2, 2019
necklaces, resin, wood, paint, belt, copper, and earring
12 in     30.5 cm
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DERRICK WOODS-MORROW, Hannah & Eva | the distance between shore and sea, 2019
mounted & framed photograph, black and brown hair, shells from Seabrook, ‘Restoration Toile’: ink on upholstered linen in a wooden frame, unique
40 x 60 in     101.6 x 152.4 cm
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LAURA DAVIS, Dilettante No More, 2019
copper, brass, nickel, paint, necklaces, earring, pins, liquor goblet, bracelet, and cork
30 x 36 in     76.2 x 91.4 cm (hanging dimensions variable)
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DERRICK WOODS-MORROW, Excerpts from Acts of Divination: Negative of Sight (Photographic documentation of 2-hour durational performance on Lincoln Beach), 2019
piezo pigment in wooden frame, edition of 4 & 2 AP
60 x 40 in     152.4 x 101.6 cm
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LAURA DAVIS, Snuffed, 2019
copper, brass, nickel, patina, necklaces, sterling silver, and gold leaf
21.5 x 19 in     53.3 x 48.3 cm (hanging dimensions variable)
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DERRICK WOODS-MORROW, Lynell in Sandtrap II (Audobon Park), 2019
piezo pigment in wooden frame , edition 2 of 4 (from an edition of 4 & 2 AP) 
40 x 26 in     101.6 x 66 cm
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DERRICK WOODS-MORROW, (detail) Lynell in Sandtrap II (Audobon Park), 2019
piezo pigment in wooden frame, edition 2 of 4 (from an edition of 4 & 2 AP) 
40 x 26 in     101.6 x 66 cm
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LAURA DAVIS, Slow Burn, 2019
copper, brass, nickel, paint, and necklaces
2.5 x 12.25 in     6.4 x 31.1 cm (hanging dimensions variable)
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DERRICK WOODS-MORROW, Platform for Acts of Divination: Second Seas, 2019
birch, oak, and walnut wood, sand from Rainbow Beach, ‘Restoration toile’: ink on upholstered linen and metal
96 x 96 x 48 in     244 x 244 x 122 cm
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LAURA DAVIS, Rightsized, 2019
copper, brass, nickel, paint, and necklaces
3 x 5 in     7.6 x 12.7 cm (hanging dimensions variable)
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DERRICK WOODS-MORROW, New Jazz Blue (Gypsy), 2019
diptych: (left) Jim Crow era Porcelain, Mississippi River slip (New Orleans) & modified glaze, (right) 19th century Parian ware, Jim Crow era Porcelain, North Carolina playground slip, Mississippi River slip (New Orleans), and modified glazes
12.7 x 6.35 x 6.35 in     5 x 4.4 cm   and    8.5 x 7 x 5 in     21.6 x 17.8 x 12.7 cm
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LAURA DAVIS, July 30, 2019 (Book Boxes), 2019
PLA, book, mirror, glue, paint, hardware
​dimensions variable, edition of 3
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LAURA DAVIS, The Sailed Ship, 2019
bookend, copper, brass, nickel, paint, necklace, and hardware
20 x 6 x 3.5 in     50.8 x 15.2 x 8.9 cm
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864 N Ashland Ave, Chicago, IL 60622
310-415-5516
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  • ARTISTS
  • EXHIBITIONS
    • Current Exhibition: Blue Space
    • 2023 Exhibition Calendar
  • OFFSITE PROGRAMS
    • EXPO 2023
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  • NEWS
  • VIDEO
    • Artist Videos
    • 1:1 Podcasts
  • BOOK YOUR VISIT
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