This video is a rough cut of the making of Kenturah Davis' first large-scale wall drawing for the exhibition "euphemisms" at Curve Line Space gallery in Los Angeles. It appropriates the phrase "Terminate with extreme prejudice" which was popularized in the film, Apocalypse Now, to compose a drawing of the late Troy Davis. The expression is commonly used in military and covert operations as a euphemism for an execution. Near the close of the exhibition, the drawing will be blacked-out with paint and extracted from the wall to exist as an artifact of the narrative of Troy Davis' execution. By drawing all of these subjects with text, Davis makes palpable the ideas and experiences that are embodied in language. The words are layered to the point of illegibility as a way to substantiate the space of things unnamed, unarticulated and immaterial.

Kenturah Davis is a Los Angeles artist and has produced work for exhibitions, artist collaborations, film and commissions. The core of her work oscillates between portraiture and design, exploring themes related to the body and the formation of identities. Davis is the featured visual artist in the syndicated documentary, "Ray Charles' America" that aired on A&E Network. She is a collaborator in Andrea Zittel's Smockshop and Panelshop projects, designing product for the artist enterprise and representing the group in national and international exhibitions. This year's Mis-Design exhibition at the University of Melbourne’s Ian Potter Museum included two works by Davis.

recorded with my iPhone.

song: "They Won't Go When I Go" by Stevie Wonder