# Alonzo Davis > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Alonzo_Davis > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Alonzo_Davis.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alonzo_Davis > Source revision: 1325620318 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|American artist, educator (1942–2025)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}} {{Use American English|date=December 2025}} {{Infobox person | name = Alonzo Davis | image = Artist_Alonzo_Davis.jpeg | caption = Alonzo Davis, 2019 | birth_date = {{Birth date|1942|02|02}} | birth_place = [Tuskegee, Alabama](/source/Tuskegee%2C_Alabama), U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|2025|01|27|1942|02|02}} | death_place = [Largo, Maryland](/source/Largo%2C_Maryland), U.S. | education = {{plainlist| * {{nowrap|[Pepperdine University](/source/Pepperdine_University) ([BFA](/source/Bachelor_of_Fine_Arts), 1964)}} * [Otis Art Institute](/source/Otis_Art_Institute) (BFA, 1971; [MFA](/source/Master_of_Fine_Arts), 1973){{cite web|url=http://www.vcca.com/main/sites/default/files/Fellowship_-_Alonzo_Davis_Fellowship_brochure.pdf|title=The Alonzo Davis Fellowship|website=[Virginia Center for the Creative Arts](/source/Virginia_Center_for_the_Creative_Arts)|access-date=2014-05-31}}}} | occupation = Visual artist, gallerist, educator | spouse = Rebecca Braithwaite (divorced) | relatives = [Dale Brockman Davis](/source/Dale_Brockman_Davis) (brother) | website = {{URL|http://alonzodavis.com/}} }} '''Alonzo Joseph Davis Jr.''' (February 2, 1942 – January 27, 2025) was an American visual artist, gallerist, and educator. He is known for co-founding the [Brockman Gallery](/source/Brockman_Gallery) in Los Angeles with his brother [Dale Brockman Davis](/source/Dale_Brockman_Davis).{{cite web |last=Grantham |first=Tosha |title=The Alonzo Davis Fellowship |url=http://iraaa.museum.hamptonu.edu/page/The-Alonzo-Davis-Fellowship |access-date=2014-05-31 |publisher=[Hampton University](/source/Hampton_University)}} In reaction to a perceived lack of coverage of black art, Davis became an advocate for black art and artists. His best-known work is the ''Eye on '84'' mural he painted to commemorate the [1984 Summer Olympics](/source/1984_Summer_Olympics). ==Background== Davis was born on February 2, 1942, in [Tuskegee, Alabama](/source/Tuskegee%2C_Alabama).{{sfn|Riggs|1997|p=129}}{{cite web|title=Alonzo Davis, 82, Whose L.A. Gallery Became a Hub for Black Art, Dies|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/04/arts/alonzo-davis-dead.html|last=Risen|first=Clay|date=February 4, 2025|publisher=[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)|access-date=February 4, 2025}} He grew up near [Tuskegee University](/source/Tuskegee_University) where his father was a professor of psychology.{{cite book|title=Now Dig This!: Art and Black Los Angeles, 1960-1980|publisher=[Prestel](/source/Prestel)|date=August 26, 2011|isbn=978-3791351360|editor-first=Kellie|editor-last=Jones|author-first=Andrea|author-last=Gyorody|page=258}} Davis's family moved from Tuskegee, Alabama to Los Angeles, California in 1955 where he was exposed to Asian art. Davis became a practitioner of [Zen meditation](/source/Zen_meditation) although he did not convert to [Buddhism](/source/Buddhism).{{Cite journal|title=Asia in the Mix|journal=[The International Review of African-American Art](/source/The_International_Review_of_African-American_Art)|page=47|volume=21|issue=3|year=2007|first=Bianca|last=Dorsey|url=http://www.hamptonu.edu/museum/publication.htm}} Davis, then an art student at [Pepperdine](/source/Pepperdine_University), disagreed with the overwhelmingly white focus of his coursework and sought to understand the black art scene in America. He and his brother Dale, also an artist, traveled across the country to meet other black artists including the [''Spiral''](/source/Spiral_(arts_alliance)) art collective in [Harlem](/source/Harlem) led by [Romare Bearden](/source/Romare_Bearden) and [Hale Woodruff](/source/Hale_Woodruff). Davis moved to [Sacramento](/source/Sacramento) in 1987, and to a residency in [Hawaii](/source/Hawaii) in 1988. He later moved to [Hyattsville, Maryland](/source/Hyattsville%2C_Maryland), and died at a hospital in nearby [Largo, Maryland](/source/Largo%2C_Maryland), on January 27, 2025, at the age of 82.{{Cite web |url=https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/alonzo-davis-dead-artist-brockman-gallery-1234731245/ |title=Alonzo Davis, Artist Who Founded One of America’s First Black-Owned Galleries, Dies at 82 |first1=Francesca |last1=Aton |website=[ArtNews.com](/source/Artnews.com) |date=January 30, 2025 |access-date=January 30, 2025}} ==Brockman Gallery== {{Main|Brockman Gallery}} The Davis brothers opened the Brockman Gallery in 1967 on Degnan Avenue in [Leimert Park](/source/Leimert_Park).{{cite report|editor1-last=Blaine|editor1-first=John|editor2-last=Baker|editor2-first=Decia|title=Community Arts of Los Angeles|hdl=10139/2728|page=4|chapter=Single Arts Experience Orientation|publisher=Los Angeles Community Art Alliance|year=1973|oclc=912321031|df=mdy-all}}{{cite news|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2011/sep/18/entertainment/la-ca-pst-timeline-20110918/2 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140531231927/http://articles.latimes.com/2011/sep/18/entertainment/la-ca-pst-timeline-20110918/2 |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 31, 2014 |title=Pacific Standard Time: A timeline |newspaper=[Los Angeles Times](/source/Los_Angeles_Times) |date=2011-09-18 |access-date=2014-05-31}} They got the idea for opening the [Brockman Gallery](/source/Brockman_Gallery) during the drive back to Southern California from the 1966 [Meredith March](/source/March_Against_Fear) in [Jackson, Mississippi](/source/Jackson%2C_Mississippi).{{sfn|Tilton|Charlwood|2001|p=78}} The name "Brockman" refers to Alonzo and Dale's maternal grandmother's maiden name.{{sfn|Tilton|Charlwood|2001|p=79}} In 1973 the brothers also founded a non-profit organization called Brockman Productions to support art in the African-American community. ==Teaching career== Alonzo taught at [Crenshaw High School](/source/Crenshaw_High_School) until 1970 when he left to teach at series of schools including [Manual Arts High School](/source/Manual_Arts_High_School), Mount Saint Antonio College, [Pasadena City College](/source/Pasadena_City_College), and [UCLA](/source/UCLA). Davis participated in [Ruth G. Waddy](/source/Ruth_G._Waddy)'s "Art West Associated" movement to agitate for the inclusion of black art in the mainstream museums of Los Angeles.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mk7A7bdaELsC&pg=PA247|title=Black Los Angeles: American Dreams and Racial Realities |publisher=[NYU Press](/source/NYU_Press) |date=2010-04-19 |editor1-first=Darnell |editor1-last=Hunt |editor2-first=Ana-Christina |editor2-last=Ramon |isbn=9780814773062|pages=246–247}} In 1976 Davis started working at Brockman Gallery full-time.{{sfn|Tilton|Charlwood|2001|p=78}}{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/newthoughtsonbla00lisa|url-access=registration|quote=alonzo dAVIS artist.|page=[https://archive.org/details/newthoughtsonbla00lisa/page/71 71]|title=New Thoughts on the Black Arts Movement|author-last=Jones|author-first=Kellie|chapter=Black West, Thoughts on Art in LA|editor1-first=Lisa Gail|editor1-last=Collins|editor2-first=Margo Natalie|editor2-last=Crawford|publisher=[Rutgers University Press](/source/Rutgers_University_Press)|year=2006|isbn=9780813541075}} From 1991 to 1992, Davis taught at the [San Antonio Art Institute](/source/San_Antonio_Art_Institute). He then served as dean of the [Memphis College of Art](/source/Memphis_College_of_Art) from 1993 to 2002. Davis, an alum of the [Virginia Center for the Creative Arts](/source/Virginia_Center_for_the_Creative_Arts),{{cite web|url=http://www.hyattsvillewire.com/2012/11/21/an-interview-with-alonzo-davis/ |title=An interview with Alonzo Davis |publisher=Hyattsvillewire.com |date=2012-11-21 |access-date=2014-05-31}} has a fellowship offered there in his name for writers, composers, and artists of African or Latino ethnicity. ==Visual art career== Davis painted a mural, ''Eye on '84'', one of the ten murals commissioned under Los Angeles' 1984 Olympic Murals project. Davis's mural was located on the southbound [I-110](/source/Interstate_110_and_State_Route_110_(California)) at the Third Street on-ramp across from [Judy Baca](/source/Judy_Baca)'s ''Hitting the Wall''. His mural, acrylic on concrete, depicted a series of internationally recognizable symbols including the Olympic Rings.{{cite web |url=http://muralconservancy.org/murals/eye-84 |title=Eye on '84 |publisher=Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles |date= |access-date=2014-06-21 |archive-date=2014-07-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140727011431/http://muralconservancy.org/murals/eye-84 |url-status=dead }} The mural suffered weathering and was considered unrecoverable.{{cite web |url=http://www.ucira.ucsb.edu/bringing-back-a-piece-of-l-a-s-olympic-glory/ |title=Bringing back a piece of L.A.'s Olympic glory |publisher=[University of California, Santa Barbara](/source/University_of_California%2C_Santa_Barbara) |date=2013-03-01 |access-date=2014-06-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140725031726/http://www.ucira.ucsb.edu/bringing-back-a-piece-of-l-a-s-olympic-glory/ |archive-date=2014-07-25 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web|last=Nashak |first=Robert |url=http://www.kcet.org/arts/artbound/counties/los-angeles/mural-restoration-101-freeway.html |title=Uncovered Olympic Glories: Murals Restoration on the 101 Freeway | Los Angeles | Artbound |publisher=[KCET](/source/KCET) |date= 23 May 2013|access-date=2014-06-21}}{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-jul-04-me-murals4-story.html |title=Mural Repair Grant Stops Short of Need |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=2003-07-08 |access-date=2014-06-21}} The mural was painted over in 2001 by [Caltrans](/source/Caltrans).{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-may-03-me-58769-story.html |title=Taggers, Caltrans Take a Toll on Freeway Murals |newspaper=[Los Angeles Times](/source/Los_Angeles_Times) |date=2001-05-03 |access-date=2014-06-21}} ==Citations== {{Reflist|30em}} ==References== * {{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6YRUAAAAMAAJ&q=alonzo+dAVIS+artist|first=Thomas|last=Riggs|title=Saint James Guide to Black Artists|publisher=[Cengage Gale](/source/Gale_(publisher))|year=1997|isbn=9781558622203}} * {{Cite book|title=LA Object & David Hammons Body Prints|last1=Tilton|first1=Connie Rogers|last2=Charlwood|first2=Lindsey|location=New York|publisher=[Tilton Gallery](/source/Tilton_Gallery)|year=2001}} ==Further reading== * {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9n8IMgEACAAJ |title=African-American Artists of Los Angeles: Alonzo Davis |editor-first=Karen Anne |editor-last=Mason |publisher=[University of California, Los Angeles](/source/University_of_California%2C_Los_Angeles) Oral History Program|date=1994 }} ==External links== * [http://hammer.ucla.edu/exhibitions/2011/now-dig-this-art-and-black-los-angeles-1960-1980/ Now Dig This exhibit] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160629144243/https://hammer.ucla.edu/exhibitions/2011/now-dig-this-art-and-black-los-angeles-1960-1980/ |date=2016-06-29 }} at the [Hammer Museum](/source/Hammer_Museum) {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Alonzo}} Category:1942 births Category:2025 deaths Category:21st-century American artists Category:21st-century African-American artists Category:20th-century American artists Category:20th-century African-American artists Category:African-American artists Category:African-American art dealers Category:American art dealers Category:Artists from Los Angeles Category:Pepperdine University alumni Category:People from Leimert Park, Los Angeles Category:People from Hyattsville, Maryland Category:People from Tuskegee, Alabama --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Alonzo Davis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alonzo_Davis) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alonzo_Davis?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.