Noah Davis: Ancient Reign

Over his career, American artist Noah Davis (1983–2015) created a distinctive body of paintings that synthesize a wide range of references, pivoting between scenes of everyday life and surreal derivations thereof. As curator Helen Molesworth describes, “[Davis’s] paintings are both figurative and abstract, realistic and dreamlike; they are about blackness and the history of Western painting, drawn from photographs and from life; they are exuberant and doleful in their palette, influenced by European painters Marlene Dumas and Luc Tuymans, as well as American ones such as Mark Rothko and Fairfield Porter. They tend toward the ravishing.” In addition to his prolific output as a painter, Davis was also a founding member of the Underground Museum, a Black-owned-and-operated art space dedicated to exhibiting art in a culturally underserved neighborhood in Los Angeles.

The exhibition’s title, Ancient Reign, plays on that of the anthology The Ancient Rain by Beat poet Bob Kaufman, an important figure for both Davises. A voracious consumer of images and information, Davis preferred collage as a method of working on paper. He was constantly tearing pages from books and magazines, combining these found images and others in formally inventive ways as an outlet for his ever-evolving visual interests. Often done on scrap paper or even discarded envelopes or cardboard, Davis’s collages are undergirded by vibrant passages of color, texture, and pattern—essentially abstract compositions in their own right—that are sometimes embellished with playful line drawings.

The works on view, many shown for the first time, play with the idea of referentiality, creating a lively tension between abstract and figurative registers where nothing is quite what it seems. Also included are excerpts from a rarely seen artist’s book outlining Davis’s ideas for the Purple Garden at the Underground Museum, which he and Karon founded together. Taking inspiration from the musician Prince and exemplifying Davis’s far-reaching cultural references, the Purple Garden images are both fanciful and instructive. The compositions of each artist’s book page underscore Davis’s holistic approach to visual culture and the clarity of his vision.

Davis frequently used these small-scale compositions to inform the content and construction of his paintings; but, more than a testing ground for his ideas, they formed an important and deeply personal practice, produced consistently throughout his career and in parallel to his canvases. While these works may appear improvisatory, every juxtaposition is deliberate, allowing for a wide range of readings.

As in many of Davis’s works on paper, Untitled (2009) plays with the idea of referentiality, creating a lively tension between abstract and figurative registers where nothing is quite what it seems.

Among the works on view are several collages that reference Egyptian mythology and iconography—an ongoing interest for the artist as well as for Karon. As in his 2010 group of paintings loosely inspired by the myth of Isis and Osiris, these works blend modern-day imagery with references to Egyptian sculpture and architecture. In Untitled (2015), the artist juxtaposes the base of an Egyptian sculpture with an image of a modern royal—Diana, Princess of Wales (1961–1997), turning her into a kind of sphinx.

Concurrent with Ancient Reign, Davis’s work is also on view in the group exhibition Flight into Egypt: Black Artists and Ancient Egypt, 1876–Now at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Opening November 17 and on view through February 17, the exhibition is curated by Akili Tommasino and examines how Black artists and other cultural figures have engaged with ancient Egypt through visual art, sculpture, literature, music, performance, and more.

Set against a brushy, abstract field of color, here the artist juxtaposes an Egyptian sculpture with an image of another modern royal, Princess Grace of Monaco (1929–1982).

The presentation of works on paper is complemented by a selection of paintings that emphasize the close dialogue between drawing and painting—as well as image and source—inherent to Davis’s body of work.

Ancient Reign also coincides with the largest retrospective of Davis’s work to date, which is on view through January 5, 2025, at DAS MINSK, Potsdam, Germany, and will subsequently travel to the Barbican, London, and the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles.

This debut retrospective brings together more than fifty works spanning the artist’s career, offering a comprehensive overview of Davis’s extraordinary practice in painting as well as his work in curating and community building with the Underground Museum.