Monumental Spirit: A Celebration of David E. Davis

Internationally known Cleveland sculptor David E. Davis will be celebrated throughout Northeast Ohio this summer in an exhibition entitled Monumental Spirit: A Celebration of David E. Davis. In addition to sculpting, Davis was a distinguished arts patron and founded The Sculpture Center and the Artists Archives of the Western Reserve. The memorial exhibition will be held simultaneously at a number of museums, galleries, and locales in Cleveland and at the Akron Art Museum this summer. It is fitting that the Akron Art Museum participates since Akron helped launch Davis' career in 1972 by giving him his first one-person exhibition, one of a number of times his work was featured here over there years. The Akron Art Museum's contribution to Monumental Spirit will be the display of Davis' twelve-foot tall sculpture Silent Patriot in Myers Sculpture Courtyard through October. This stainless steel structure is composed primarily of tetrahedrons (triangular pyramids). To Davis, this shape suggested strength and stability and at the same time, tension and excitement. Those emotions relate to the circumstances of the sculpture's genesis: Davis created the work in 2001 soon after the 9/11 tragedy. Silent Patriot's red and blue panels and soaring form emphasizes its role as a silent witness to those terrible events but also serves as an eloquent witness to Davis' talent, imagination, and skill as a sculptor.