The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth is celebrating a rising star from their own backyard this fall with a major solo exhibition featuring Oak Cliff-based multidisciplinary conceptual artist David-Jeremiah. The exhibition, titled "David-Jeremiah: The Fire This Time," runs through November 2 at the Fort Worth museum, showcasing the work of an artist who has quickly gained national recognition.
David-Jeremiah has already achieved significant milestones in his career, including receiving both the Nasher Sculpture Center Artist Grant and the Red Bull Arts Microgrant in 2020. His artistic journey continued with an early-career survey at the Houston Museum of African American Culture in 2022, followed by a solo exhibition at the prestigious Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts, in 2024, which was accompanied by the artist's first publication. His work has been featured in solo exhibitions across major cities including Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, New York City, the Hamptons, and Washington DC.
The artist's work has gained recognition from major collectors and institutions nationwide. His pieces are included in the permanent collection of the Dallas Museum of Art and are represented in several prestigious private collections, including the Beth DeWoody Collection in Palm Beach, Florida, the Celine Collection with locations in Bond Street, London and Nanjing, China, and the Cash App Collection spanning Atlanta, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and St. Louis.
David-Jeremiah's artistic practice explores profound themes through what he describes as "narrative, apotheosis, humor, and personification." His work delves into the complexities of humanity's perpetual cycles, examining self-reflection, contradiction, and unbecoming. At the core of his practice lies a commitment to examining how people often rival the very virtues they claim to uphold, frequently weaponizing these ideals against one another. His unique approach reimagines engagement with concepts such as transcendence, ritual, agency, and humanity itself, all rendered through the symbolic medium of the Lamborghini.
This presentation at the Modern includes several new pieces being shown for the first time, most notably the final polychromatic EE (Emma Esse) set of seven paintings that complete an important series in the artist's body of work. Throughout David-Jeremiah's career and prominently featured in this exhibition, fire has served as a significant recurring motif. For the artist, fire represents the crucible through which he has passed, both literally and figuratively. In this presentation at the Modern, his paintings function as figures that bask in the glow of embers that, conceptually, are created by the viewer's own engagement with the work.
The artist continuously engages with the ritualistic context of fire and flame, particularly evident in his "I Drive Thee" series of tondo paintings. These circular works were recently exhibited as part of the artist's 2024-25 exhibition "I Drive Thee" at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts. In a dramatic artistic gesture, "LAnima" from 2023, the final painting in this tondo series, was actually cremated and exhibited in specially designed urns modeled after the steering wheel of a Lamborghini Anton.
Central to David-Jeremiah's conceptual framework is the mythos of the Lamborghini automobile, which he places at the heart of his artistic practice. The artist's fascination with Lamborghinis began in childhood and has since evolved into a sophisticated exploration of the dichotomy between beauty and violence. This duality appears both in human nature and in the fighting bulls for which most Lamborghini models are named, creating layers of meaning that run throughout his work.
The exhibition was organized by guest curator Christopher Blay, who brings his own significant Texas connections to the project. Blay, a Liberian-born American artist, curator, and writer, is a graduate of Texas Christian University and currently serves as Director of Public Programs at the National Juneteenth Museum in Fort Worth. His recent curatorial work includes organizing the Citywide African American Artist Exhibition in 2024 for the Glassell School of Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
"I've had the unique opportunity of working with David-Jeremiah previously and on this pivotal exhibition of his work at the Modern," Blay explained. "The artist's inverted-performance installation, as he describes it, has a rich conversation with Conceptualism and Minimalism. It has been a privilege to work with David-Jeremiah, and I can't wait to share this exhibition with the public."
Blay himself is an accomplished artist whose work was included in the exhibition "Elemental Currents—Material, Memory, and Myth" running from March 7 through June 8, 2025, at Ballroom Marfa, Texas. His public artwork "Signals and Satellites to the AncesStars" from 2025 is currently on view at New Harmony Gallery of Contemporary Art at the University of Southern Indiana through August. His other recent projects include the East Rosedale Monument Project from 2024, commissioned by the Fort Worth Public Art Commission, and a solo exhibition titled "Ritual SpLaVCe" at the Galveston Art Center in 2024.
Chief Curator Andrea Karnes expressed her enthusiasm for the collaboration, stating, "It has been such a pleasure to work with David-Jeremiah and guest curator Christopher Blay to bring this exceptional body of work to the Modern." She described how the installation continues the artist's evolving narrative around the complexities of being a Black man in America, accounting for both its joys and traumas while extending the conversation to explore broader themes of individuality and human experience.
The installation featured in "The Fire This Time" situates larger-than-life figures around conceptual campsites, creating an immersive environment that invites viewers to engage with these complex themes. This presentation represents a significant moment for both the artist and the museum, highlighting the vibrant artistic talent emerging from the Dallas-Fort Worth area while addressing universal themes that resonate far beyond regional boundaries.
