Justin Favela, David-Jeremiah

Episode No. 729 features artists Justin Favela and David-Jeremiah. The Smithsonian American Art Museum's Renwick Gallery is presenting a commission from Favela titled Capilla de Maíz (Maize Chapel) through a not-yet determined date. The Favela makes the Renwick's grand salon gallery a fantastical space, complete with shimmering gold-fringed walls and piñata corncobs that highlight the role of maize in North American visual culture. It accompanies "State Fairs: Growing American Craft," an exhibition that details artists' contribution to the US tradition of state fairs that is on view at the Renwick through September 7, 2026. (The Renwick is temporarily closed because Republicans in the White House and on Capitol Hill have shut down the federal government.) Favela's work typically investigates Mexican or Latin American craft practices, especially cartoneria (more commonly known as piñata making). His work has been the subject of exhibitions at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, the Des Moines Art Center, the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, and more. The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth is presenting "David-Jeremiah: The Fire this Time" through November 2. The exhibition presents a group of vertical assemblages of black and other polychromatic paintings on shaped wood that form an installation. The twenty-eight works stand over ten feet tall. The primary configuration surrounds viewers completely before giving way to a final suite of paintings featuring abstract assemblages that include references to fire. The exhibition was curated by Christopher Blay. A catalogue is available from MAMFW. David-Jeremiah's work reflects the artist's experience of Black masculinity in America. Previous David-Jeremiah solo exhibitions have been at the Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Mass., and the Houston Museum of African American Culture; he has participated in group shows at institutions such as Project Row Houses, Houston. In 2020, David-Jeremiah received a Nasher Sculpture Center Artist Grant Award. Instagram: Justin Favela, David-Jeremiah, Tyler Green.