Jeremy Okai Davis on Presence of Color

A new exhibition at the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts & Culture prompts visitors to consider the way a photograph or painting decides what “correct” looks like. In Presence of Color, Charlotte-born artist Jeremy Okai Davis reimagines the Kodak Company’s mid-century “Shirley” cards which used white skin tones to establish baselines for light and color when developing film. Davis is the guest on this Piedmont Arts podcast, and he talks about the ways he deconstructs the “Shirley” cards to create portraits of Black individuals.