James G. Davis

James G. Davis (June 20, 1931 September 28, 2016) was an American contemporary artist best known for his intricate paintings and works on paper. He was acclaimed for his figurative pieces that explore issues of gender and social status, along with mythological and historical references that often have a metaphorical twist.

Early life Davis was born in Springfield, Missouri as one of six brothers. His mother died when he was three years old. He spent a year of his life in an orphanage. At the age of eleven, Davis was involved in a train accident that resulted in a long hospitalization and recovery period which led him to discover self-expression through drawing. He dropped out of high school and then traveled the country from 1947 to 1950. He worked various odd jobs including one year working in a toy factory in Chicago painting toy gorillas on an assembly line. In 1951 he returned to where his family resided in Wichita, Kansas. He began working in hotels where many of his artistic ideas accumulated and later became present in his paintings.

Davis was admitted to Wichita State University to study Fine Art 1954 and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with honors in 1959. He received his Master of Fine Arts degree in painting and printmaking in 1963 along with a minor in philosophy.

Career Davis started a long career in teaching in 1959. He taught at Wichita State University, Wichita Kansas; University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri; and at the University of Arizona in Tucson where he inspired young artists for 21 years.

Select exhibitions His first solo exhibition was at the University of Oregon in 1961 and from that point on Davis made his mark in several group exhibitions including the Corcoran Biennial-Second Western Federation of the Arts Traveling Show in 1983 and the First Western Federation of the Arts Biennial in 1979. It was featured at the Denver Art Museum, Smithsonian American Art Museum, the San Francisco Museum of Art, and Seattle Art Museum.

In 2004 Davis had one of his acclaimed shows "Paintings and Works on Paper, 1988-2004" at the University of Arizona. It was a 15-year survey exhibition including monumental diptychs and triptychs which featured chronicles of his travels in America, Spain, and Germany. According to Charles A. Guerin, Director at the University of Arizona Museum of Art "Davis was a painter of extraordinary skill who understands the power and potential of the medium. His use of color, contrast, balance, and composition creates drama and dynamic tension within his paintings. His masterful executions of paint on canvas, where realism and abstraction dissolve within transparent and opaque layers of paint, propel his images into and outward from the picture plane. These qualities make Davis' paintings difficult to ignore and rewarding to engage."

His works can be found today in a multitude of permanent collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Hirshhorn Museum of Art, both in Washington, D.C., the Berlinische Museum and the Martin Gropius Bau, Berlin, Germany, the Hess Collection in Napa, California, the North American Mexican Cultural Institute in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, and in Arizona the Phoenix Art Museum, the Tucson Museum of Art, and the University of Arizona Museum of Art.

Later life One of Davis' most prominent collections is of his wife. The “Mary Anne Paintings” include five decades of paintings and sketches. Mary Anne served as his muse throughout the years of their marriage. The 19 large oil paintings and 10 small oil sketches have been displayed at the Rancho Linda Vista Gallery in Oracle, Arizona.

On September 6, 2016, Davis died peacefully in his home in Oracle, Arizona at the age of 85. He is survived by his wife Mary Anne Davis, son Turner G. Davis, and three grandchildren.