Currently on view at David Zwirner is a terrific exhibition highlighting the short but prolific career of artist Noah Davis.
Noah Davis, Mary Jane, 2008
Born in Seattle in 1983, Davis studied painting at NYC's Cooper Union before settling in Los Angeles. The exhibition, organized by Helen Molesworth, showcases more than 20 of Davis’ paintings that depict intimate scenes inside African American homes and surreal images “that traffic in magical realism,” Molesworth says in the release. “Loneliness and tenderness suffuse his rigorously composed paintings, as do traces of his abiding interest in artists such as Marlene Dumas, Kerry James Marshall, Fairfield Porter, and Luc Tuymans,” she adds.
Noah Davis, Untitled (Moses)
Noah Davis, Single Mother with Father Out of the Picture
Noah Davis, Bad Boy for Life, 2007
Davis’ paintings are imbued with a sense of mystery and tension, lacking facial expressions and eye contact from subjects who are often placed in unusual scenarios. Untitled (Moses), a small-scale painting of Davis’ son being bathed in a sink, offers a sweet glimpse into childhood, while the distant-looking, half-dressed figures in Single Mother with Father Out of the Picture and the emotionless woman spanking a young boy in Bad Boy For Life, suggest uneasiness.
Noah Davis, The Casting Call, 2008
Noah Davis, Pueblo del Rio: Arabesque, 2014
Noah Davis, Pueblo del Rio: Concerto, 2014
The Casting Call is a straightforward look at a group of dancers rehearsing on a black-and-white checkerboard floor, while the dreamlike Pueblo del Rio: Arabesque shows six dancers in white dresses performing outdoors and Pueblo del Rio: Concerto features a lone piano player performing at night on the grounds of the Los Angeles housing project referenced in the titles. A pair rows a canoe on dark waters beneath the Hollywood sign missing its last two letters in the eerie NO-OD for Me and the confounding The Last Barbeque shows an aloof man next to a BBQ grill and a formally dressed, ghostly trio standing off to the side as a man who appears to be smoldering collapses in the background.
Noah Davis, NO-OD for Me, 2008
Noah Davis, The Last Barbeque, 2008
Along with his cryptic, moody paintings, Davis’ legacy includes co-founding The Underground Museum (UM) with his wife, sculptor Karon Davis, in the Arlington Heights section of Los Angeles in 2012. Constructed from three storefronts, the artist-run space focuses on presenting “museum-quality” artwork in an underserved predominantly black and Latinx area of Los Angeles, according to the press release.
Molesworth met Davis at UM in 2014, according to Artnet. She was Chief Curator of the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art at the time and originally visited UM to meet with Davis’ brother, the filmmaker Kahlil Joseph. She became close with both artists and in 2014, agreed to a collaboration between UM and LA MOCA. Prior to this partnership, museums were unwilling to loan works to UM, so Davis exhibited his own artwork and curated shows featuring his friends and family.
Shortly after the agreement with LA MOCA, Davis was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, according to the article. He died in 2015 at the age of 32.
The Zwirner exhibition also features a recreation of the UM offices, complete with a sculpture by Karon Davis, furniture designed by Davis’ mother, Faith Childs-Davis, and BLKNWS, a two-channel video project by Kahlil Joseph. The room also displays architectural models of two shows Davis curated with work from LA MOCA that were posthumously exhibited at UM. Artists of Color (2017-2018) included pieces by Jeremy Blake, Dan Flavin, and Felix Gonzalez-Torres, and Non Fiction (2016-2017) showcased works by Kara Walker, Kerry James Marshall, and David Hammons.
Noah Davis, Untitled, 2015
Davis wrote out plans for the museum before his untimely passing and his family and Molesworth continue to carry out his vision for UM today. A portion of this exhibition will travel to The Underground Museum where it will be on display starting next month. Check out work by the remarkable Noah Davis before the NYC exhibit closes on February 22. Learn more at davidzwirner.com.
Noah Davis
David Zwirner
533 West 19th Street, NYC
Exhibition on view January 16 through February 22
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