Noah Davis

This exhibition at the Barbican presents more than 50 paintings, sculptures and works on paper created by the American artist Noah Davis before his untimely death in 2015 at the age of only 32 (6 February–11 May). Drawing on vintage materials dug up in flea markets, film, television, literature and more, Davis is perhaps best known for his renderings of Black life in paintings that infuse reality with a dream-like quality: in Painting for my Dad (2011), a figure balances at the edge of a starry sky; Isis (2009) shows a young woman dressed up as the Egyptian goddess against a suburban backdrop. While Davis’s art is the main focus, the exhibition also highlights his contribution to the Los Angeles artistic community through his founding in 2012 of the Underground Museum with his wife, Karon Davis; for the next decade it was as a space for exhibitions and residences in the historically Black and Latinx neighbourhood of Arlington Heights. This exhibition, the artist’s first institutional show in the UK, travels to the Barbican from Das Minsk in Potsdam and will then move to the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles in June.

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Find out more from the Barbican’s website.

Painting for My Dad (2011), Noah Davis. Photo: Kerry McFate; courtesy the estate of Noah Davis/David Zwirner; © Estate of Noah Davis

Isis (2009), Noah Davis. Photo: Kerry McFate; courtesy the estate of Noah Davis/David Zwirner; © Estate of Noah Davis

Single Mother with Father Out of the Picture (2007–08), Noah Davis. Photo: Kerry McFate; courtesy the estate of Noah Davis/David Zwirner; © Estate of Noah Davis