Tim Davis

Tim Davis's wry photographs find the sublime in the quotidian. Whether shooting an abandoned pair of sneakers, the streets of a nameless suburb, or the corner of a framed painting in a museum, Davis captures the peripheral, everyday beauty of our daily life.

While a recipient of a 2008 Rome Prize Fellowship, Tim Davis documented Rome's classical ruins and the detritus from tourists that envelop them in relation to contemporary urban life. By doing so, he created a world where time has collapsed. Expanding his scope to include iconic landscapes in other countries, Davis compiled all of the images to create The New Antiquities, his most recent series. A writer and teacher as well as a visual artist, Davis's work has been reviewed by a myriad of publications, including the New Yorker and Art in America.

Interview with the Artist

1. When did you first realize you wanted to be an artist?
I am still doubtful. Lately I've been writing music and often think of Walter Pater, which I got through Borges I think: "All arts aspire to the state of music, which is pure form."
2. What's your preferred drink?
I hate drinking, even water. I'd prefer never to have to swallow any liquids.
3. What's your idea of happiness?
Humor everywhere every second: a sign outside a defunct diner I saw that read "American Dream Burger."
4. What's your idea of misery?
My own art opening.
5. What would you want your last meal on earth to be?
My mom's chestnut chorizo soup.
6. What's your hidden talent?
I am a dilettante, so my talents all hide each other, making me seem utterly talentless.

SHOWS