ARTIST TALK: Jason REVOK
Thursday, April 9
6:30 p.m.
The Contemporary Dayton
Join us for a conversation with Detroit based artist Jason REVOK, as he discusses his current exhibition at The Contemporary Dayton, Mutually Exclusive.
Born in Southern California, self-taught artist REVOK began pushing creative boundaries in the street, his early career rooted in graffiti. He has spent the last decade focusing on his studio practice grounded in process, systems, and authorship. Engineering custom tools, mechanisms, and devices, he creates paintings that explore the tension between control and chance. Several new works in Mutually Exclusive extend these investigations while incorporating the artist’s personal commentary on today’s political landscape, including references to contemporary political figures and inviting the viewers to consider how images function, persist, and accrue meaning over time.
REVOK has exhibited at The Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; and the Pasadena Museum of California Art, among others. This event offers a unique opportunity to hear firsthand about Jason REVOK’s creative process, journey, and his most recent works.
This event is FREE and open to all.
ARTIST TALK: Paul Verdell
Thursday, April 23
6:30 p.m.
The Contemporary Dayton
Join us for a conversation with Detroit based artist Paul Verdell, as he discusses his current exhibition at The Contemporary Dayton, Tabernacle.
In this series of gestural paintings, Verdell continues his exploration of loose, instinctive, mark making, layering paint with collaged elements to create compositions that hover between abstraction and landscape. These works become landscapes both visually and figuratively, where perception, memory and emotion converge. This latest body of work delves deeply into the capacities of both medium and mind.
His practice is rooted in an ongoing internal discourse– the attempt to understand himself within a shifting and uncertain world through the act of painting. His Black American heritage informs the work as a lived and embodied presence shaping gesture, structure, and inquiry.
Originally from Long Beach California, he moved to Ohio as a teenager and received his BFA from Bowling Green State University in 2018. He has completed residencies at Black Rock Senegal in Dakar and the Macedonia Institute in Chatham, New York. He has exhibited at The Armory Show, Hurst Contemporary in London, and the Dakar Biennale in Dakar, Senegal.
This event offers a unique opportunity to hear firsthand about Paul Verdell’s creative process, experiences, and most recent works.
This event is FREE and open to all.
ARTIST TALK: Jamea Richmond-Edwards
Thursday, May 21
6:30 p.m.
The Contemporary Dayton
Join us for a conversation with Detroit based artist Jamea Richmond-Edwards, as she discusses her current exhibition at The Contemporary Dayton, Leviathan.
At its core, Leviathan explores Detroit’s layered histories, spiritual traditions, and evolving landscapes. Raised in a family of dancers and musicians–and drawing on her experience as a competitive dancer and marching band member–Richmond Edwards infuses the film with movement and sound that operate as both personal archive and embodied memory. This work unfolds as a poetic meditation on migration, place, and inheritance.
Richmond-Edwards’ interdisciplinary practice encompasses painting, mixed media collage, immersive installation, and video. She holds a BFA from Jackson State University and a MFA from Howard university. Her work has been present at major institutions including the Brooklyn Museum, the Frist Art Museum, and The Phillips Collection, among others. Her work is held in the collections of the Rubell Museum, the The Studio Museum in Harlem, and the U.S. Department of State Art in Embassies program.
This event offers a unique opportunity to hear firsthand about Jamea Richmond-Edwards creative processes, influences, and experiences.
This event is FREE and open to all.
A Historic Conversation: REVOK & GIANT
Saturday, May 9
2 – 4 p.m.
The Contemporary Dayton
The Contemporary Dayton is proud to present a rare and highly anticipated conversation between two of the most influential figures in contemporary graffiti and street art: Jason REVOK and Mike GIANT.
For over three decades, REVOK and GIANT have shaped the visual language of the street, pushing boundaries, defining styles, and influencing generations of artists across the globe. Having first crossed paths in the 1990s, their parallel and intersecting careers have helped elevate graffiti from subculture to a central force within contemporary art.
This live conversation offers a rare opportunity to hear directly from both artists as they reflect on their shared history, evolving practices, and the shifting landscape of graffiti and street art. From early days navigating risk and visibility to their current positions within the broader art world, REVOK and GIANT will discuss the philosophies, challenges, and cultural impact that have defined their work.
Rooted in mutual respect and decades of lived experience, this exchange promises insight, candor, and a deeper understanding of a movement that continues to shape how we see and inhabit public space.
Join us for an unforgettable evening with two living legends.
FREE and open to all.
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THE CONTEMPORARY DAYTON
The Contemporary Dayton is a non-profit gallery and artist resource that provides art for the community and a community for artists since 1991.
