“VISIT TO BAYOU ROAD”: One of the many paintings by Victor Davson on display in the Arts Council of Princeton’s Taplin Gallery October 11 through November 8. A public reception is on Saturday, October 11 from 3 to 5 p.m.
The Arts Council of Princeton (ACP) has announced “Visit to Bayou Road and Other Paintings,” a solo exhibition of new and recent works by renowned artist Victor Davson, curated by Juno Zago. The exhibition will open with a public reception on Saturday, October 11 from 3 to 5 p.m., offering audiences the opportunity to engage directly with the artist and this immersive body of work. It will be on view through November 8.
Davson’s artistic vision was shaped in his early childhood in Guyana, a country marked by the confluence of Native, African, Indian, Chinese, and European cultures. His formative years were steeped in both urban and rural life, travels into the rainforest, and the anti-colonial struggle for independence in the 1960s. Influenced by writers, poets, and activists including Martin Carter, Frantz Fanon, Walter Rodney, Rabindranath Tagore, V. S. Naipaul and Orlando Patterson, Davson has continued to draw on this wellspring of history, fable, myth, and political activism throughout his career.
In 2020, during the stillness of the COVID-19 lockdown, Davson turned to landscape as his muse. With fresh eyes, he began to see the natural surroundings of his New Jersey home on the Lenape Trail, with a commanding view of the first ridge of the Watchung mountains from his backyard. His observations sparked a new awareness of the interconnectedness of human life and the natural world: “A sense of panic shot through me,” said Davson. “In prioritizing myself, I had overlooked the vital contribution of trees — not only to my life, but to the sustainability of all life on the planet.”
Initially working at the intersection of representation and abstraction, Davson created landscapes rooted in physical locations. By 2023 however, his paintings began to evolve beyond place, transformed through a variety of means, methods and materials into surfaces evocative of the territory of sensation and the terrain of memory.
An artist talk will be held on October 25 from 3 to 4 p.m., free and open to all.
Davson has exhibited widely throughout the northeast U.S. and in Great Britain, France, the Dominican Republic, and Cuba. His work is in the permanent collections of the National Museum of Fine Arts, Havana, Cuba, National Collection of Fine Arts, Guyana, Newark Museum of Art, Montclair Art Museum, New Jersey State Museum, Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, and Morris Museum. Fellowships and awards include a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, a Rutgers Center for Innovative Print and Paper Fellowship, and three New Jersey State Council on the Arts Fellowship Awards.
To learn more about Davson and his work, visit his website at victordavson.com.
Also on view at ACP: “Little Museums: Opening Doors on Art History” by Meta Dunkly Arnold is on view October 10 to November 7 in the Siegal Gallery. The anchor piece of this exhibition is The Ladies’ Art Museum, which imagines female artists from across several centuries meeting to discuss portraits of women. Arnold’s mixed-media work engages with art history by highlighting lesser-known artists, treating discarded materials as treasures, and moving details from the margins of famous paintings to the center. Through literal shifts from 2-D to 3-D and from large to small, Arnold challenges conventional perspectives on art history. Kinetic and interactive elements, such as swinging and sliding panels, LED lights, and rearrangeable magnets, invite viewers to actively share in her creative process. As the community eagerly anticipates the reopening of the Princeton University Art Museum on October 31, this exhibition asks viewers to reflect on how museums make learning visible and accessible, and how we all curate and share objects that carry meaning. A Gallery Opening will be held on Friday, October 10 from 5 to 7 p.m., free and open to all.
“The Arts Council Beyond Princeton: Work from Barbara DiLorenzo’s Online Students from 2020-2025” will be on view in the Lower Level Gallery October 11 to November 8. When the COVID-19 pandemic forced the Arts Council to quickly transition from in-person to online classes in March 2020, a new artistic community was born. What began as a way to adapt soon grew into a thriving virtual network of painters spanning states and countries, from New Jersey to Canada and Sweden. For many, the online format removed barriers — whether physical challenges, distance, or time constraints — and created opportunities for connection. ACP’s Annual Member Show provides an in-person reunion, while weekly Friday open studios offer time to create, converse, and connect. This exhibition is a celebration of the artwork produced in this unique environment: work that reflects not only artistic growth but also resilience, community, and joy. A Gallery Opening will be held on Saturday, October 11 from 3 to 5 p.m., free and open to all.
The Arts Council of Princeton is at 102 Witherspoon Street. For more information, visit artscouncilofprinceton.org or call (609) 924-8777.