"Resonant symbolism and elegiac calm"
December 18, 2020
In his list of “The 10 Best Art Shows of 2020’’, New York Magazine critic Jerry Saltz noted Noah Davis's solo exhibition at the gallery earlier this year. “In this show organized by curator Helen Molesworth,’’ Saltz writes, “Davis ... was revealed as a Degas-like painter of hushed intimacy.’’
Frieze's list of the top ten shows in the US this year also highlighted Noah Davis, citing a review in the magazine by Erica N. Cardwell. “This luminous exhibition,’’ she wrote, “the largest ever presentation of work by [Davis], makes me wish I could have spent time with the artist’s brilliant mind. Absent of that possibility, the twenty paintings on display here demonstrate not only Davis’s technical skill but his lifelong dedication to Black art and artists.’’
The gallery's exhibition is accompanied by a critically acclaimed publication that tells the story of a brilliant artist and cultural force through the eyes of his friends and collaborators.
Watch curator Helen Molesworth's introduction to Noah Davis at David Zwirner, New York, earlier this year. Molesworth also joined Kahlil Joseph and Karon Davis for a conversation on Dialogues in April.
Here, Karon Davis, Thelma Golden, Helen Molesworth, and fellow artist Henry Taylor recall Davis’s singular charisma, and how he used it to turn The Underground Museum from a beautiful dream into reality.
Cover image: Noah Davis, Painting for My Dad, 2011 (detail)