David-Jeremiah

I.A.H.Y.F.F.A.W.D. (INTERNALIZED)

2020
oil-based enamel, mixed media, and plywood
45 x 40 inches

This work by conceptual artist David-Jeremiah is from a series of paintings on panel whose common content is derived from one of two acronyms, I.A.H.Y.F.F.A.W.D. or N.F.D.B.J.W.B.D. These acronyms, according to the artist, stand in the place of “the most toxic, hateful, and racist sentence [he] could get off [his] chest at the time towards white people,” and neither will ever be decrypted by the artist. The artist is concerned in this series with the rarely-discussed topic of black racism: if racism is a construct undergirded by white supremacy, can those outside of this group participate? By encoding this hateful remark as an acronym, the message adopts its own authority over the recipient, who is unable to read the words but still vulnerable to the acronym’s inherent pathos. The viewer thus spontaneously engages in a dark guessing game wherein assumption overrides proof. The shape of each painting shares a common referent: the hood of a particular model of Lamborghini automobile. This reference emerges in several bodies of the artist’s work as a potent conceptual signifier: each of Lamborghini’s contemporary models is named after a particularly dangerous line of fighting bulls, and especially those known to have killed matadors in the bullfighting ring. The namesake bulls of Lamborghini are the most formidable opponents in the sport’s history: while some did in fact kill their matador opponents, others gained notoriety simply by surviving long enough to earn their freedom. David-Jeremiah is a conceptual multidisciplinary artist based in Dallas, TX. He is a recipient of the 2020 Nasher Sculpture Center Artist Grant Award.

[excerpted from Von Ammon Gallery’s website: www.vonammon.co]