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Artistry
Black Christ
In the late 1960's DeVon achieved national recognition when he painted a mural of the Black Christ on the dome of St. Cecelia Catholic church in Detroit. The work is of a twenty-four-foot, brown-skinned Jesus with six angels beside him. One is native American, another Asian, two Caucasian and two Afro American.
A major controversy erupted when the mural appeared on the cover of Ebony magazine in March, 1969.
Twenty-five years later, the mural once again became the topic of discussion when the New York Times featured it in the paper on Christmas Day,
December 25th, 1994
"The historical Christ was Hebrew, a Jew from the Middle East. He might have had dark skin. He might have been fair. But Christ is the head of the church, he is God and he is any color people want him to be."
-Reverend Raymond Ellis, Rector, St. Cecelia
Portraits
DeVon's commissioned portraits of prominent Detroit community leaders include radio personality Martha Jean "The Queen" Steinberg; Coleman Young, the city's first black mayor; Abe Bernstein, boss of Detroit's notorious prohibition era Purple Gang and many others.
Perhaps the most noted portrait Devon has painted is that of Motown founder Berry Gordy Jr. It was commissioned as a birthday present from his sister Anna Gordy Gaye, wife of singer Marvin Gaye.
When it was unveiled at Gordy's Boston-Edison mansion during a fund raising event, Berry Gordy was quite amused by the painting of him dressed up like Napoleon.
After several inquiries as to its whereabouts, including one from the Smithsonian, the location and even existence of the painting is a mystery.
“Portraits are difficult because you have to please the
subject and all who know them.”
- DeVon Cuningham
DocuArt
DeVon's portraits gave way to what he calls DocuArt. It informs, instructs and involves the viewer. His later work combines symbolism with cultural iconography that leaves the viewer with a montage of images to ponder. DeVon's art not only appeals to the eye but also to the mind.
The explanatory name, Docuart, came about when Devon’s partner, Rose, expressed his method as being a way to educate people on the subject he was painting while he had their attention. DeVon felt so strongly about these topics that he wanted to bring more to the audience than just a pretty picture.
He wanted to use his gift of painting as a new way to get across the urgency in the case of the bees, or the forgotten history in the case of the African American and Jewish connection in music. Hence the creation of documentation and art, or Docuart.
“Docuart is my signature. It tells the story I am trying to
convey along with visual beauty.”
- DeVon Cunningham
Spill the Honey
In 2018, the Spill the Honey Foundation brought Detroit docuartist DeVon Cunningham on as art director to create a series of eighteen original paintings.
The non-profit Spill the Honey Foundation is a coalition of Jewish Americans and African Americans dedicated to promoting human dignity by advancing public awareness of the European Holocaust and American slavery, as well as drawing attention to contemporary social injustices and systemic oppression to advance cultural tolerance and reconciliation.
“I don’t name a painting because that crystallizes it. It is up to the
viewer to understand what they are seeing.”
-DeVon Cunningham
Save the Bees
These paintings and limited edition prints are available for purchase with proceeds benefitting various non-profit organizations supporting awareness, education and protecting the bees.
“Once I finish a painting, I am done with it.”
- DeVon Cunningham