About

Hernease Davis earned her MFA from ICP-Bard College and widely exhibits multimedia installations throughout the U.S. Using photograms, cyanotypes on fabric, crochet and sound installation. Hernease creates immersive spaces of rest for herself and others. Work from her new series, "...new love." debuted as a part of the SHIFT Residency 2020-21 hybrid exhibition at the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts in NewYork City. She has also exhibited with the Silver Eye Center (Pittsburgh), Transformer Station (Cleveland), the International Center of Photography (New York City), the Visual Studies Workshop (Rochester), Tiger Strike Asteroid (Brooklyn), the Houston Center for Photography, and she was named to the inaugural Silver List which recognizes emerging photo-based artists who are advancing the medium. She has been featured in Front Runner Magazine, LensCulture, and her work inspired an article in Musée Magazine that explored facets of trauma. Hernease teaches in the MFA program at the Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester, NY. She also serves as Assistant Curator of Public Programs and Education. One of her early teaching experiences was as a Visiting Lecturer at ICP-Bard College where she led a course that explores the complexity of empathy through art practice.

HERNEASE DAVIS

herneasedavis@vsw.org

EDUCATION

2011 M.F.A. - Advanced Photographic Studies, ICP - Bard College, New York, NY.

2004 B.A. - Biology, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA.

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS (* Solo shows marked by asterisk)

2023

Direct Contact: Cameraless Photography Now, Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum, Bloomington, IL
*Break with me, Foundation., PrattMWP | Munson Williams Proctor Art Institute, Utica, NY

2022

*“…we’ll have to make new love.”, Framingham State University | Mazmanian Gallery, Framingham, MA

2021

*Recapitulation, Silver Eye Center, Pittsburgh, PA
*“And when you come back…”, Tiger Strike Asteroid, New York, NY
*One Day, I”ll Share, Established Gallery, Brooklyn, NY

2019

When One Notices, The Clemente Soto Velez Cultural and Educational Center, New York, NY
Code:Comfort, Spaceworks Gowanus, Brooklyn, NY
Place Setting, The Yards Collective, Rochester, NY

2018

Elastic Behavior, Java Projects, Brooklyn, NY
*A Womb of My Own (Mistakes Were Made in Development), Visual Studies Workshop, Rochester, NY

2016

The Surface of Things, Houston Center for Photography, Houston, TX
Photography Now 2016, The Center of Photography at Woodstock, Woodstock, NY
High Summer, Foley Gallery, New York, NY
Home Perm, Ideal Glass Gallery, New York, NY

2015

The Future is Forever, Mana Contemporary, Jersey City, NJ
Four Options, Wildlife Gallery, Brooklyn, NY

2013

Curate NYC, The Hague Museum of Photography, The Hague, The Netherlands

2011

A Place for Photography, Camera Club of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA.
*“She here.” “She sane.”, MFA Thesis Exhibition, ICP-Bard Studio Gallery, Long Island City, NY
ICP-Bard MFA Group Show, School of International Center of Photography, New York, NY

2010

Curate NYC, Rush Arts Gallery & Essex Street Market, New York, NY
Slidefest II, 25CPW Gallery, New York, NY
Eye-to-Eye: Slidefest, School of the International Center of Photography, New York, NY

2009

ICP-Bard Open Studios, ICP-Bard Studio Gallery, Long Island City, NY
Focus Philadelphia, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA

AWARDS AND RESIDENCIES

SHIFT Artist in Residency, Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, New York, NY
Nfinit Artist in Residency Program at Spaceworks Gowanus, Brooklyn, NY
Selected for the 2017 New York Times Portfolio Review, New York, NY
Vermont Studio Center Artist Fellowship, Vermont, VT
BRIC Media Arts Fellowship, Brooklyn, NY

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Kurlat, Galina, Figure Studies: Hernease Davis: The Body As Absent, Lenscratch, November 15, 2021, http://lenscratch.com/2021/11/figure-studies-hernease-davis-the-body-as-absent-3/
Gabriella Bittencourt, Make New Of You, Musée Magazine, October 13, 2020, https://museemagazine.com/features/2020/10/13/hernease-daviss-a-womb-of-my-own-mistakes-were-made-in-development-make-new-of-you
Liz Sales, “A Womb of My Own”, LensCulture Magazine, August 18, 2020, https://www.lensculture.com/articles/hernease-davis-a-womb-of-my-own
Corinne Beardsley, “Bare With Me: Hernease Davis,” Frontrunner Magazine, May 21, 2019, www.frontrunnermagazine.com/a-conversation-with-hernease-davis/
Natalie Zelt, “Hernease Davis: Closer to Presence,” Visual Studies Workshop, Rochester, NY, May 4, 2018. 1.
Qiana Mestrich, “An Impossible Fecundity,” Visual Studies Workshop, Rochester, NY, May 4, 2018. 5.
Patricia Silva, “Photographer Interview: Hernease Davis,” Dodge & Burn: Decolonizing Photography History, August 23, 2016, http://dodgeburnphoto.com/2016/08/photographer-interview-hernease-davis/

SELECTED PRESENTATIONS AND INVITED LECTURES

Rochester Institute of Technology, Panel Discussion on Ana Mendieta, Rochester, NY, March 2023
Pratt MWP/Munson Williams Proctor Institute of Art, Artist Talk for solo exhibition, Utica, NY, February 2023
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, Artist Talk, Philadelphia, PA, October 2022
Framingham State University, Artist Talk for solo exhibition, Framingham, MA, March 2022
University of Pittsburgh, Artist Talk/Workshop, Pittsburgh, PA, November 2021
Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Artist Talk for solo exhibition, Brooklyn, NY, November 2021
Silver Eye Center for Photography, Artist talk for solo exhibition, Pittsburgh, PA, October 2021
Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, Panel Discussion for group exhibition, New York, NY, December 2020
Cleveland Museum of Art, Artist & Curator discussion, Cleveland,OH, November 2020
Nfinit Foundation Artist in Residence Panel: Code|Comfort, January 2019
The Visual Studies Workshop: Empathic Possibilities, June 2018 - In conjunction with solo exhibition, A Womb of My Own (Mistakes Were Made in Development).
Houston Center of Photography, Panel Discussion for group exhibition, November 2016
ICP-Bard College, Artist Talk, April 2016