Willis "Bing" Davis

Willis “Bing” Davis (American, b. 1937)

An educator, curator, and artist, Davis studied at DePauw (BA, 1959) and Miami universities (ME, 1967); later, he was DePauw’s Director of Black Studies and chaired the Central State University Art Department (1979-1998). Active with the National Conference of Artists, his first solo exhibition was at the Studio Museum, Harlem in 1973. Reflecting an interest in traditional African arts and textiles, Davis’s masks address American social issues including police brutality and negative black self-image, while his works on paper and ceramic vessels invoke an African ancestry.

Important Source Material:

Davis, Willis Bing. On the Shoulders of Ancestors: The Art of Willis Bing Davis. Dayton, OH: EbonNia Gallery, 2006.

NHS