DAVIS, Noah; FRAY-SMITH, Wells (ed.); MALAVASSI, Paola (ed.); NAIRNE, Eleanor (ed.)
Noah Davis

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 and anonymous photography found in Los Angeles’ flea markets, 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 volume reveals how humanity, humor, imagination, and above all, people, were the epicenter of Davis’s work.

[publishers’ note]

Published by Prestel / Barbican / Hammer Museum, 2025
Design by A Practice for Everyday Life
Monographs / Painting