open dyslexic mode

In his brief life, Noah Davis both built and revealed worlds, relishing the freedom that comes with “painting to create your own universe,” as he once said. Davis, who succumbed to a rare cancer at the age of 32, was vocal about eschewing stereotypical depictions of Black American life, preferring instead to portray scenes in which Black people could truly recognize themselves.

An incredibly moving retrospective at the Barbican Centre — the Los Angeles artist’s first major institutional show in the UK — accompanies over 50 of Davis’s works with vintage photographs of Black families that he bought at flea markets. We all have photos like these: yellowing polaroids and scratched Kodak prints of relatives lounging on leather sofas made soft with age, or of cousins in the backyard paddling pool. The “everyday.” But everyday does not necessarily mean mundane. “I wanted Black people to be normal, we are normal right?” said Davis, “But I want it to be more magical.”

Read all of Aida Amoako’s (@aida__gram) review of the exhibition, on view until May 11, through our link in bio. The show will travel to the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles this June.
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#NoahDavis #BlackArtist #Painting