bio
Kerry Davis works in a variety of media and formats, including installation, assemblage and photography. Frequently referencing art history, philosophical perspectives and utilizing religious symbols, his work delves into the relationship between mainstream culture and images and fine art, creating challenging commentaries on our society. His artwork takes a critical and often humorous view of political, religious and cultural symbols, transforming familiar imagery into complex layered compositions. His works have shown throughout the Pacific Northwest. He and his wife/collaborator Anna Daedalus are cofounders of Roll-Up Gallery, an erstwhile contemporary exhibition space in Portland. The team now lives and works perched above a Sitka spruce swamp near the mouth of the Columbia River.
kerry davis curriculum vitae
Solo/Duo Exhibitions
2024 Swamp Concerto, with Anna Daedalus, Astoria Visual Arts, Astoria, OR
2023 Decomposure, with Anna Daedalus (showing with Jon Gottshall’s Delete Background) Luke’s Frame Shop, Portland, OR
2022 Open Channels: A Wetlands Dialogue, with Anna Daedalus and Jon Gottshall, Gallery 114, Portland, OR
2018 Objects Immobiles, TOC Concert Hall, Portland, OR
Corrupted, Roll-Up Gallery, Portland, OR
Still Life, Roll-Up Gallery, Portland,
2017 Indexing and Interference, with Anna Daedalus, Roll-Up Gallery, Portland, OR
2016 Bas-Relief, with Anna Daedalus, Roll-Up Gallery, Portland, OR
2015 Leaping Darkness, with Anna Daedalus, Littman Gallery, Portland State University, Portland, OR - Invitational
2014 Religio, Glyph Arts Space, Portland, OR - Invitational
Columbia River Shadows, with Anna Daedalus, Gallery Homeland, Portland, OR
Shadows: Hiroshima to Hanford, with Anna Daedalus, Arts & Communication Magnet Academy, Beaverton, OR
2013 Shadows, with Anna Daedalus, Hamersly Library, Western Oregon University, Monmouth, OR - Invitational
Shadows, with Anna Daedalus, Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center, Portland, OR
2012 Precessions 1-8, Mother Foucault’s, Portland, OR
2011 Objects Immobiles, 12x16 Gallery, Portland, OR
Precessions, Luke’s Frame Shop Gallery, Portland, OR
2009 Four, Contemporary Photography, 12x16 Gallery, Portland, OR
Group Exhibitions
2023 AVA Members’ Show, Astoria Visual Arts, Astoria, OR, Bill Ittman, juror
2022 Members’ Invitational, Gallery 114, Portland, OR
2019 PNW40, Lightbox Photographic Gallery, Astoria, OR, Terry Novak, juror
2018 The Sacred, Lightbox Photographic Gallery, Astoria, OR, Robert Adams, juror
Books & Boxes, Roll-Up Gallery, Portland, OR
2017 Make America Create Again, Center on Contemporary Art, Seattle, WA, Deborah Paine, juror
2016 In Scene, The Schneider Museum of Art, Southern Oregon University, Ashland, OR - Invitational
Particles on the Wall traveling exhibition, Cascadia College, Bothell and The Reach Museum, Richland, WA
2015 Tenth Anniversary Exhibition, 12x16 Gallery, Portland, OR
Unnamed Photography Ensemble, Glyph Arts Space, Portland, OR
Particles on the Wall traveling exhibition, Maxey Museum, Whitman College, Walla Walla, WA
Landscape, Plates-to-Pixels online gallery, Portland, OR, Christopher Bennett, juror
2014 Shadow and Light, Black Box Gallery, Portland, OR, Julia Dolan, PhD., juror
Particles on the Wall traveling exhibition, Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility, Seattle, WA
2013 Particles on the Wall, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Ecotrust Building, Portland, OR
Portrait of a Process:13 Hats (collaborative works by collective), SOIL Gallery, Seattle, WA
13 Hats at 12x16 (collaborative works by collective), 12x16 Gallery, Portland, OR
2012 Members’ Choice Invitational, 12x16 Gallery, Portland, OR
Evidence, Collaborative Works by 13 Hats, Denizen Gallery, Portland, OR
2011 Wonders To Come, Spring Box Gallery, Portland, OR
Welcome to My World, 23 Sandy Gallery, Portland, OR
Assemblage, Annie Meyer Gallery, Portland, OR
Still Life & Dioramas, Plates-to-Pixels online gallery, Portland, OR
2010 Vision/Revision, Photography Bring Gallery, Eugene, OR
Fifth Anniversary, 12x16 Gallery, Portland, OR
2009 Portland Photography, Jupiter Gallery, Centralia, WA
Store for a Month, Portland, OR, John Brodie, curator - Invitational
2008 Angels in Architecture, Architectural Heritage Center, Portland, OR
2005 Snapshot, Stein Design, Portland, OR
Installations
2013 Shadow Box, photogram booth with Anna Daedalus for Shadows, White Box, Portland, OR
2012 Shadow Box, photogram booth with Anna Daedalus for Portland Shadows Project, Hiroshima commemorative event, Director Park, Portland, OR
2010 kindle, Fishbowl #2, Blackfish Gallery, Portland, OR2008
Supermodel, Fishbowl#1, Blackfish Gallery, Portland, OR
Pretty Ugly, 12x16 Gallery, Portland, OR
2007 Crybabys, video installation, Portland Art Center, Portland, OR
Pacifist Potential, Blackfish Gallery, Portland, OR
2006 On Edge, Fishbowl# 1, Blackfish Gallery, Portland, OR
Publications
PALUS (2021; Oxygen Art Centre, Nelson, BC, Canada; monograph with Anna Daedalus)
River Arts, Reimagining the Columbia across Borders (2018; Selkirk College, BC, Canada; featured in symposium catalogue)
Bas-Relief (2016; Portland, OR; self-published exhibition catalogue with Anna Daedalus)
We Denizens (2016; Furniture Press, Baltimore, MD; cover image of poetry book by Jen Coleman)
The Inflectionist Review Anthology of Poetry (2015; Inflectionist Review Press, Portland, OR; Featured artist with Anna Daedalus, cover and 12 images)
The Notebook of False Purgatories (2013; Chax Press, Tucson, AZ; cover image with Anna Daedalus for poetry book by Standard Schaefer)
Shadows (2013; Portland, OR; self-published exhibition catalogue with Anna Daedalus)
Featured in The Feralist (2013; literature & arts journal, Portland, OR)
Featured in 13 Hats at Mother Foucault’s (2012; chapbook anthology, Portland, OR)
Featured in The Portland Review Literary Journal (2004; April, Vol.51, No.2, Portland, OR)
Periodical Articles & Media
2017 “The Five Portland Art Gallery Shows We’re Most Excited to See in January 2017”, Willamette Week
2016 “On the Go with Joe at Roll-Up Photo Studio”, KPTV Good Day Oregon
2015 “From Shadows to Light”, Oregon Artswatch
2011 “Under The Wire”, The Oregonian
2006 “On Edge”, Portlandart.net
Grants & Awards
2023 Juror’s award, Astoria Visual Arts Members’ Show, Bill Ittman, juror
2016 Project Grant, Regional Arts & Culture Council, Portland, OR, $5800
2013 Project Grant, Regional Arts & Culture Council, Portland, OR, $5700 awarded to Anna Daedalus as collaborator
2011 Project Grant, Regional Arts & Culture Council, Portland, OR, $6000 awarded to Robert Tomlinson, cofounder, 13 Hats artists’ & writers’ collective
2008 Two Honorable Mentions, Angels in the Architecture, The Architectural Heritage Center /Bosco Milligan Foundation
Talks & Visiting Artist
2021 Oxygen Art Centre, Nelson, B.C., PALUS virtual residency artist talk, Kerry Davis & Anna Daedalus.
2018 Selkirk College, Castlegar, BC, River Arts: Reimagining the Columbia Across Borders Symposium, Kerry Davis & Anna Daedalus. Hosted by Selkirk College and Emily Carr University of Art and Design
2016 Portland Art Museum Photography Council Brown Bag Lunch Talk, Kerry Davis & Anna Daedalus - Invitational
The Schneider Museum of Art, for In Scene exhibit and Earth Week. Funded by Bonneville Environmental Foundation, Kerry Davis & Anna Daedalus
2015 Portland State University Littman Gallery, for Leaping Darkness exhibit, Kerry Davis & Anna Daedalus
2014 Glyph Arts Space, Portland, OR, “From Hiroshima to Fukushima”, Kerry Davis & Anna Daedalus
Arts & Communication Magnet Academy, Beaverton, OR, “Shadows: Hiroshima to Hanford” talk and workshop with high school students, Anna Daedalus & Kerry Davis
Residencies
2021 Oxygen Arts Centre (remote), Nelson, B.C., PALŪS project and publication with Anna Daedalus
Curation
Roll-Up Gallery; 2015–present; Portland, OR; Cofounder; rotating visual art exhibits and and cultural events
Memberships
Center on Contemporary Art, Seattle, 2017
13 Hats, 2011–2013, Portland, OR, artists’ & writers’ collective
Teaching
2002-04 Portland Community College, Photography Department Lab Tech
Education
1989-90 Oregon College of Art and Craft, Photography
1982-86 Northwest Film Center, filmmaking and time-lapse photography
1982 Mentee/volunteer crew member on the film, The Journey, by Peter Watkins
1979-82 Portland State University, Film studies