Noah Davis was a genius talent who died too young. In August 2015 he succumbed to a rare form of cancer, just three months after turning 32. But his legacy lives on, as a brilliant new solo show at David Zwirner proves.
As well as being a gifted painter, Davis was co-founder of the Underground Museum, an artist-and family-run space dedicated to the exhibition of museum-quality art in a culturally underserved African American and Latino neighbourhood in Los Angeles.
Organised by Helen Molesworth, former chief curator at The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, this exhibition highlights both parts of Davis’s practice. On display are a group of his rigorously composed paintings as well as models, artworks and archival materials that tell the story of the Underground Museum.
Using a notably dry paint application and a moody palette of blues, purples, and greens, Davis made figurative paintings that nod to artists like Marlene Dumas, Kerry James Marshall and Luc Tuymans. But his pictures can be slightly deceptive, says Molesworth. ‘They are modest in scale while being emotionally ambitious.’
At Zwirner, there are paintings from everyday life, such as a portrait of his young son, and paintings tinged with a hint of magical realism. You’ll encounter ‘surreal images that depict the world both seen and unseen, where the presence of ancestors, ghosts, and fantasy are everywhere apparent,’ adds Molesworth. These paintings demand slow, considered looking and show Davis to be one of the brightest stars of his generation.
