‘Culture of Honor: The Appalachian Murder Ballad’ is a traveling museum show and discourse about violence and the ‘culture of honor’ in the American South. The traditional folksong of the Appalachians is close to my heart. I inherited an enthusiasm for such music from my father, and on his side of the family my descendants hailed from the Scottish Borders. With its Celtic origins, Appalachian music has provided my connection to the Southern landscape since my arrival here in 1988.
‘One is occasionally tempted to abandon the role of historian and to frame what social scientists call a theory. Whenever a culture exists for many generations in chronic insecurity, it develops an ethic that exalts war above work, force above reason, and men above women. This pattern developed on the borders of North Britain, and was carried to the American backcountry, where it was reinforced by a hostile environment and tempered by evangelical Christianity. The result was a distinctive system of gender roles that continues to flourish even in our own times.’
From ‘Albion’s Seed’ by David Hackett Fischer
See Below for Links and Past Museum Exhibitions
The songs of this region have given me an old, familiar narrative and a human history that connects to my own background. Some artists are happy to record every alien vista and strange culture travel can provide, but I have found this old tie important in placing me in this new land. For many years I painted scenes; landscapes and urban views, old buildings and interiors, with not a figure in sight. Despite this, they were often described as being haunted by a human presence, and as places that somehow told a story. In these new works the figure has entered the scene.
The stories in these ballads are old, but one only has to pick up a newspaper to see they remain fully contemporary. Lovers still fall prey to despair and suicide, or end up in the crime report. These are paintings are set very much in the present, but nothing taking place in them is new.
A past slideshow with music by Greg and Lucretia Speas is available on youtube at:
ALSO FOR BLOG LINKS AND DETAILS:
CULTURE OF HONOR EXHIBITION HISTORY
2024 Appalachian Studies Conference, Cullowhee, NC.
2019 Appalshop 50th Anniversary (‘Culture of Honor’ touring show) Whitesburg, KY.
2019 Mars Hill University (‘Culture of Honor’ touring show) Mars Hill, NC.
2019 Gormley’s Fine Art, Dublin and Belfast.
2015 Spartanburg Art Museum (‘Culture of Honor’ touring show) Spartanburg, SC.
2014 Myrtle Beach Museum of Art (‘Culture of Honor’ touring show).
2013 Morris Museum of Art (‘Culture of Honor’ touring show) Augusta, GA.
2012 Greenville Museum of Art (‘Culture of Honor’ touring show) Greenville, SC.
“It was our great pleasure to exhibit the “murder ballad” paintings of Julyan Davis at the Morris Museum of Art. Beautifully painted, they are thoughtful and provocative, and engaged the audience here on several levels. We find that it is a rare exhibition that generates repeat visitation. This was one of them. I’m glad to say that the exhibition also brought Julyan Davis with it, and he proved to be every bit as engaging as his work.”
Kevin Grogan Director, Morris Museum of Art