“Colors, like scents, are a royal road from the outside world to our emotions.” — Peter Schjeldahl*
The Underground Museum—founded in Los Angeles in 2012 by artists Noah Davis and Karon Davis—is dedicated to the exhibition of museum-quality art, and serving as a cultural hub for low-to-moderate-income communities.
According to UM director Megan Steinman, the museum’s current show ARTISTS OF COLOR—the third UM show curated by Noah Davis before his death in 2015—explores “how color is perceived or deployed, and how that can shift over time or by culture.”** Artists represented in the show include Josef Albers, Lita Albuquerque, Michael Asher, Jo Baer, Jeremy Blake, Noah Davis, Dan Flavin, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Joe Goode, Carmen Herrera, E.J. Hill, Jim Hodges, Jennie C. Jones, Donald Judd, Ellsworth Kelly, Imi Knoebel, Diana Thater, and Brenna Youngblood.
The museum has strong local partnerships with LAXART, MOCA, and Martin Scorsese’s Film Foundation. and future programming will be organized by Karon Davis (Noah’s wife), artist and director Kahlil Joseph (Noah’s brother), and MOCA chief curator Helen Molesworth.
All programs are provided free of charge.
ARTISTS OF COLOR, through February 4, 2018.
THE UNDERGROUND MUSEUM, 3508 West Washington Boulevard, Los Angeles.
theunderground-museum.org/Artists-of-Color
A Friday night cinema series runs through October in the museum’s Purple Garden:
LA JETÉE (1962, directed by Chris Marker) and CRY OF JAZZ (1959, Ed Bland), Friday July 21, at 8 pm.
THE CHILDHOOD OF THE LEADER (2015, Brady Corbet), Friday, July 28, at 8 pm.
CITIZENFOUR (2014, Laura Poitras), Friday, August 4, at 8 pm.
PURPLE GARDEN CINEMA, THE UNDERGROUND MUSEUM, 3508 West Washington Boulevard, Los Angeles.
*Peter Schjeldahl, “Going Pop: Warhol and His Influence,” The New Yorker, September 24, 2012, 94.
From top: Joe Goode, Purple, 1961–1962. Photograph by Brian Forrest. Image credit: Underground Museum, MOCA, and Joe Goode Studio.
Noah Davis, 2004 (1), 2008. Image credit: Collection of Lindsay Charlwood and Ryan McKenna, and the Underground Museum.