Noah Davis - by Wells Fray-Smith & Eleanor Nairne & Paola Malavassi (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

American artist Noah Davis (1983-2015) believed 'painting does something to your soul that nothing else can. It is visceral and immediate.' Drawing on art history, personal archives, anonymous photography found in Los Angeles' flea markets, and his own imagination, he compiled a ravishing body of figurative paintings that explore a range of Black life. Alongside his celebrated paintings, Davis made drawings, collages, and sculptures, and co-founded the Underground Museum.

This elegantly designed volume documents the span of Davis's career and attends to his commitment to representation in the art world and community engagement at the Underground Museum. Alongside new scholarship from writers, artists, and musicians like Tina M. Campt, Claudia Rankine, Marlene Dumas, and Jason Moran, this catalog features high-quality reproductions of Davis's more widely-known works as well as previously unseen archival material. A vital resource for understanding the depth and significance of his practice, this beautiful publication reveals how humanity, humor, imagination, and above all, people, were the epicenter of Davis's work.

About the Author

Paola Malavassi is founding Director of DAS MINSK Kunsthaus, Potsdam, Germany. She was formerly Head of the Julia Stoschek Collection, Berlin, and curatorial assistant of Kasper König at Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany.

Eleanor Nairne is the Keith L. and Katherine Sachs Curator and Head of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. She was formerly Senior Curator at the Barbican Art Gallery, London.