Durr, 32, a recent recipient of a Montgomery County Artist Opportunity Grant, “combines realism and surrealism” in his mostly figurative work.
“It starts with something I just feel really compelled to share. I try to be intentional about saying a lot with a little.”
His interest in art started young, with coloring books.
“I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember. I got to a point where I wanted to color my own images, so I started doing pictures of my family, friends, cartoon characters.
“The real kicker for me were my elders — parents, uncles, aunts, friends of family, older cousins and siblings, teachers. They saw something in what I was doing. They always encouraged me to keep making art.”
Primarily self-taught, Durr had some formative art education experiences.
“I attended Stivers for two years of high school and gained a strong foundational understanding of art. I didn’t see a way to make a career as an artist, so I studied architecture at Pratt Institute in New York. I did about a year there. It was just way too expensive.”
He counts James Pate and Bing Davis among his mentors.
Durr returned to Dayton, becoming a father at the age of 20, which shifted his focus away from art for a while.
“I wanted to be a good parent. How do I be this protector and provider?”
His daughters are now 9 and 12.
HOOK AND SUBSTANCE
“In early 2016 I reached a really low point, where everything that could go wrong was going wrong. I lost my apartment, my job. I threw my hands up and said, alright, well it can’t get any worse than this. Let’s figure something out.
“I had a come-to-Jesus moment. You’ve always done art, but never really took it seriously. Let’s just see what happens if you go all the way in on this thing.”
The next four years were a process of gaining traction, putting together coffee shop shows, getting commissions — largely through social media and support from family and friends — as well as focusing on skills.
“As my skills improved, so did the opportunities and price point.
“I made a lot of charcoal and graphite drawings, and illustrative work with markers and ink. Stylistically it looked way different. Smaller pieces, things that I could make very quickly after getting off of work, that I could then post the next day on social media and start getting a following. I used pop culture references as the hooks. You want to have the hook, and substance.”
DATA DRIVEN
With everything from artmaking to fitness, he is goal-oriented, and tracks much of his process with quantifiable data. For example, spreadsheets track pricing progress, and he has calculated the hours it takes to complete a canvas (30 hours for medium scale, up to 60 for larger).
He keeps a list detailing his inventory and all the pieces he has sold, and for what price, since going full-time.
He references specific dates as touch points in his art career.
June 12, 2020, for example, was the date he decided to become a full-time artist.
“I worked in a leadership role in nutrition services at Miami Valley Hospital. It was fun, but art and my job really began to compete for time and energy. I had to make decisions like, if I go into work for eight hours, I’ll made ‘x’ amount of dollars, if I stay home and work on this for four hours, I’ll make three times that amount.”
NEXT LEVEL
What propelled Durr’s work to the next level was a portfolio review at The Contemporary Dayton with Executive Director Eva Buttacavoli and then-curator, Michael Goodson. They had spotted Durr with his work in a Premier Health newsletter and were curious to know more.
“Eva asked why I was painting. I was like, ‘I like it, I enjoy the process?’
“My focus was so on the technical ability that I wasn’t giving much thought to what I was saying in the work. So they gave me this challenge, thinking about what I wanted to say.
“What came from that was this very intentional body of work. It spoke to the notions of my experience with toxic masculinity. I ended up selling (three paintings) to the University of Dayton for five figures.”
Credit: Hannah Kasper
Credit: Hannah Kasper
It was affirmation to move forward, and to keep conveying narratives of human experience and connection in the work.
A TYPICAL DAY
“A typical day we’re getting started around 7, 7:30.”
Durr resides with his fiancé, Te’Jal Cartwright, owner of LORE Storytelling, and her son. Durr’s daughters join them part-time.
“If I can be at the gym at 9 that’s great. I’ve run between two and ten miles for 25 months consecutively. I ran six miles this morning. It helps to clear my mind and brings me joy.
“I’m working by 11:30, noon.”
He ideally works in the studio in four hour blocks.
“Honestly, it takes 90 minutes to get into that flow state. Just me and music. I tried to do podcasts, but I missed the whole thing. Some people like TV shows, anime in the background. I just play music without words, jazz.”
Part of Durr’s stylistic choice is letting the raw painting surface show through the work. If he draws a portrait on a wood background, he might let the unpainted woodgrain remain as the skin tone.
He bounces between charcoal and oil paint, sometimes incorporating both in a piece. There is a contrast between the detailed shading of the charcoal and solid blocks of saturated paint color.
“I always go back and forth about whether I like graphite or charcoal better. The best way I’ve heard it explained is that graphite is like working with marble or stone, and charcoal is like working with clay.”
Credit: Contributed
Credit: Contributed
TEACHING ARTIST
“I teach Monday, Tuesday, Thursday. I work with preschool-aged children. It’s called the Black Boy Brilliance program. I currently serve 120 preschool students across three different sites. It’s a partnership between the Dayton Art Institute and Preschool Promise.
“I go into these classrooms and we do activities based on social-emotional learning skills or the books they read in class. I just got word that we got fully funded for a second year.”
He is also a Museum Artist Educator at the Dayton Art Institute, where he teaches workshops including Flourish and Flow: An Oil Painting Journey and a series called The Moving Muse, in which musicians and dancers perform while guests draw from life.
BUSINESS SAVY
He does not use AI in his art, but he does sometimes refer to it for the business end.
“To draw up agreements or contracts, develop strategies for reaching certain goals. Pricing. I have a benchmark now, so I’ll go into ChatGPT (to figure out pricing) based on certain parameters — my resume, where I’m at in my career.”
He also utilities the services of an artist’s agent who has been helpful in strategizing greater visibility and securing opportunities, including a recent solo exhibition at Loma Galleries in Atlanta.
FEED THE FAM
“I am the primary cook so if I can either be getting to the grocery store or prepping by 4:30 that’s ideal. Everybody loves pasta. I just did a chicken parm pasta that everyone really likes. Te’Jal really likes a chicken piccata. Lots of salmon. I like to fire up the grill, invite people over with drinks and we have a good time.”
Though happily based in Dayton with his family, he has his eye on larger markets. His goals are to gain major gallery representation and to exhibit his work overseas.
“I don’t quite consider myself to be an emerging artist anymore, but I haven’t quite done some of the things that would solidify me as a mid-career artist. With that, the price point at which I sell my work has increased. I’m right on the cusp. What’s it going to take to get to that next level?”
MORE DETAILS
Dayton Art Institute workshops taught by Jamaal Durr, for those 18 and older:
Flourish and Flow: An Oil Painting Journey
Thursdays, April 10, 17 and 24, and May 1 and 8, 5:30–7:30 p.m.
Cost: $100 for museum members; $125 for non-members
The Moving Muse: A Gesture Drawing Experience
Saturdays, April 19 and June 21, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Cost: $40 for museum members; $45 for non-members
Register at https://dai.ticketapp.org/portal/product/103/events
The Moving Muse: Intuitive Collage Journaling
Saturday May 17, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Cost: $40 for museum members; $45 for non-members
Register at https://dai.ticketapp.org/portal/product/103/events
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