On October 7, 2019 the City of Ventura dedicated the completion of the California Street Bridge Enhancement public art project by Michael Davis. The project was started in 2004 and was finally completed in 2019. A ribbon cutting took place at dusk followed by a presentation on the project at the City Council meeting. A video presentation on the project tells the back story on how the design was developed and the inspiration for the bridge’s artwork.
IZEN MILLER GALLERY presents "RINGS", works by Michael Davis
ABOUT RINGS...My sculptures and installations are physically and symbolically multilayered mechanisms that react to environments and man-made inventions from the past and the future. More specifically, each piece investigates faith in science and the folly of such a belief in relation to the forces of nature, politics and culture. Informing the work is a Minimalist aesthetic and an affinity with Minimalist theory equated with political consciousness: "Minimalism provoked artists to rely on their own perception. This applied to our conception of the relationship of an object to a particular space and greater still, how this perception was a springboard to ideas beyond the object and its immediate surrounding, and referred to the world at large. Minimalism asked us to consider how we see, how we think and how we react. The symbology of the 1950’s was embedded in my consciousness early on and remains relevant today. Industrial refuse, the excess of cold war industry, are included in my art materials. But I also look to science and astronomy, the infinitesimally small and infinitely large to seek connections that bind us together in spirit if not ideology." M.D.
I work on large-scale public art and studio sculpture and my works combine found objects and handmade forms to create various “what if” situations for a viewer to contemplate – sometimes humorous, sometimes somber, but always laden with symbolism and meaning despite the reductive use of materials. Without being figurative or literal, I create a narrative through a shared understanding of cultural symbols. With manipulation of the functional uses of particular materials I create spare compositions that work to depict a rich account of personal and historical events.