Danny Giles: The Practice and Science of Drawing a Sharp White Background

The Jacob Lawrence Gallery at the University of Washington School of Art + Art History + Design is pleased to present The Practice and Science of Drawing a Sharp White Background, an exhibition of new work by Chicago-based artist Danny Giles created during the Jacob Lawrence Legacy Residency. Giles’ work brings together live performance, video, and sculpture to address the dilemmas of representing and performing identity and to interrogate histories of oppression and creative resistance. In this exhibition, Giles examines how Western aesthetics have structured whiteness, by responding to various moments in the interwoven histories of Western science and visual art practice. Giles appropriates and intervenes within the imagery of William Hogarth’s aesthetic treatise Analysis of Beauty, the art historian Johann Winkleman, and others in new drawings and collages.

Danny Giles received his BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2011, his MFA from Northwestern University in 2013, and he attended the Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture in 2013. Giles’ work has been exhibited, performed, and screened at The Luminary, St. Louis; Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago; El Museo Tamayo, Mexico City; and Contemporary Arts Museum Houston. He is currently a 2018–2019 BOLT Artist-in-Residence at the Chicago Artists Coalition. Giles is part-time faculty at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Academic Director of the Ox-Bow School of Art & Artists’ Residency in Saugatuck, Michigan.

As part of the Jacob Lawrence Legacy Residency, Giles holds a concurrent exhibition, Figura, at SOIL, Seattle’s oldest not-for-profit arts space.

The Jacob Lawrence Legacy Residency and exhibition are made possible by Carole Fuller, The Black Embodiments Studio at the University of Washington, and individual donors. The Jacob Lawrence Gallery is generously supported by the Lucia S. and Herbert L. Pruzan Endowed Faculty Fellowship in Art.

About the residency
Established in 2015, the Jacob Lawrence Legacy Residency and exhibition have become the cornerstone of the gallery’s program, enabling artists, students, faculty, and staff to engage in dialogue as new work is incubated. Black artists at all stages of their careers are nominated by a selection committee to travel to Seattle for a residency during the month of January and an exhibition in February. Previous Jacob Lawrence Legacy Residency awardees are HOWDOYOUSAYYAMINAFRICAN?, Steffani Jemison, and C. Davida Ingram.

About the gallery
The Jacob Lawrence Gallery is an inspiring space for exhibitions with a mission centering on education, social justice, and experimentation. The gallery is a vital center for social interaction and dialog about art, art history, and design and a critical para-educational resource for students and faculty. It is also a site of knowledge production dedicated to enhancing the intellectual life on campus by advancing discourses on contemporary exhibition and curatorial practice with its ambitious program of lectures, performances, screenings, discussions, and exhibitions.

The gallery is named after one of the school’s most renowned faculty members, Jacob Lawrence, who taught here from 1970–1985 and who served as Professor Emeritus until his death in 2000. The gallery is the living legacy of Lawrence’s exemplary life and admirable practice.

This year the gallery celebrates its 25th anniversary, with programs that honor Lawrence’s legacy. The gallery’s 25th anniversary party takes place on Saturday, February 16, exactly 25 years to the day after the gallery’s dedication to Jacob Lawrence.

About the school
The School of Art + Art History + Design is the center for creative innovation and study at the University of Washington, one of the world’s leading public research institutions. The school’s focus on interdisciplinary collaboration and the development of new practices enhances both studio and classroom learning as well as fostering dynamic engagement and critical discourse. Our students are inspired to learn through a rigorous and creative academic experience, competitive internships, and international opportunities. Learning from influential faculty, alumni, visiting artists, designers, and scholars, students of our undergraduate, masters, and doctoral programs investigate and create in an environment of possibility.