Tavarus Blackmon (MF.A., studio art, ‘18) has a solo exhibition, “Exquisite Diversion,” at Verge Center for the Arts in Sacramento Feb. 1 – March 24.

Blackmon is very much shaped by the late ‘60s early ‘70s art movements that developed out of the CSUS and UC Davis art departments where he studied. References to Funk and Chicago’s Hairy Who art movements can be found in his work, but he has brought a fresh interpretation. Blackmon’s work employs rough surfaces, found objects, digital media, and personal, sometimes psychedelic iconography, to tell his story. The Verge Center for the Arts is located at 625 S Street in Sacramento. Exhibition hours are Thu-Sat: 11 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sun: 12 p.m.-5 p.m. Blackmon is a Sacramento native. He has been published in Susurrus, Calaveras Station, The Sacramento News and Review, The Suisun Valley Review and Newsletter. His thesis, The Politics of the Cartoon and Contemporary Art investigates the development of Outsider Art through the lens of Funk Art and Chicago-based Imagists.

Exhibiting locally, nationally and internationally, he is recently the graduate of the MFA program and Provost Fellow at The University of California Davis. He has exhibited at Shy Rabbit Gallery, Pagosa Springs, CO; The Midway, San Francisco, CA; American Steel Studios, Oakland, CA, The Center for Digital Art, Los Angeles, CA, FE Gallery, Sacramento, CA, BrickHouse Gallery, Sacramento, CA and the Blue Banana Video Art Festival in Berlin, Germany.