Untitled 2020
Image from the series 'Languor'
'Languor' is a project that presents itself as an interaction between images of NYC’s Central Park landscape and genuine portraits taken within the space. With the history of the park being constructed by using eminent domain to strip landowning African-Americans of their property/homes in mind, many of which formed this community to escape the unhealthy conditions and racism found in the other inhabited parts of Manhattan – the work is an examination of nature, the negation of civilization, home, and [the possibility of] escape; centering black tranquility among the chaos of nature space, history, and life today.
Untitled 2021
Image from the series 'Beebe'
Note: The text above was written by the Artist. No modification was made by COCA.
Donavon Smallwood
United States
Donavon Smallwood received his BA from Hunter College in 2016. He is the recipient of the 2021 Aperture Portfolio Prize. Publications and editorial clients include The Cut, The New York Times, T Magazine, The New Yorker, and The Wire. Languor, his first monograph, is set to be published by Trespasser Books in summer 2021.