Barbara Davis Gallery
  • Home
  • CURRENT
  • ABOUT
  • ARTISTS
  • CONTACT

Mel Davis
Hihihi
You feel good
*I

Picture

​Mel Davis’ abstract paintings are distinguished by being more than a painted object; they create a reality of their own. Davis forms collages from elements derived from Popular and Museum Culture. This source material is used as a first thought and memory aid to compile more fully orchestrated compositions for transposition to canvas.
 
Painted in vibrant hues that push the limits of physicality and test our perceptions of material, the work is a consequence of replicas of replications, faithfully, and artfully organized and interpreted by Davis.
 
The aesthetic of fragmentation is inherent in her painting process, adapting a multi-layered, harmonious composition, using singular elements in a medley of styles. For Davis, this intricate system reflects the complexity of navigating information today. At the center of Davis’s project is the question; how do we absorb information and arrange it?  
 
The title of the exhibition "Hihihi You feel good *I," is a direct quote from a text message from Davis’ daughter, Calliope. It is an example of the compression and collision of language, which is how Davis experiences making paintings. Davis sees optimism in new modes of expression; this belief and brightness are exhibited in these new works.


Picture
Consonant With The Moon
Oil on canvas
22x28
2020
Picture
Doorslam
Oil on canvas
22x28
2020
Picture
U Make Me Laft 
Oil on canvas 
52x60
2020
Picture
Curtains 
Oil on canvas 
20x24
2020
Picture
Place a Shadow On The Ground
Oil on canvas
22x28
2020
Picture

​Rish and Foses 

Oil on canvas
52x60
2020
Picture
U Make Me Laft 1
Oil on canvas
52x60
2020
Picture
Lets Build A House
Oil on canvas 
40x30 
2020
Picture
Double Rainbows
Oil on canvas 
20x24
2020
Picture
Eyes
Oil on canvas
52x58
2020
Picture
Grass 1 
Oil on canvas 
30x34 
2020
Picture
Moving the Hill Down
Oil on linen
60x52
2020
Picture
Poor Butterfly
Oil on canvas
20x24
2020
Picture
Grass
Oil on linen 
22x28
2020
Picture
The Snow Doesn't Give A Soft White Damn 
Oil on canvas, 
52x58, 
2020
Picture
Rish and Foses 1
Oil on linen
52x60
2020
Picture

​Among the Worst Something Left
Oil on canvas
20x24 
2020
Picture
U Feel Good
Oil on canvas
30x34
2020
Picture
​Brick
Oil on canvas
22x28
2020
Picture
Lets Build A House 
Oil on canvas 
40x30
2020
CV
Artist Bio
ONLINE CATALOG

​​

​ABOUT BARBARA DAVIS GALLERY 


For 39 years, Barbara Davis Gallery has brought groundbreaking contemporary art to Houston.  Driven by her intuitive sensibilities and perennially fresh vision, Barbara Davis has championed a generation of significant contemporary artists.  In the process she has challenged a generation of art collectors, both seasoned and aspiring, to see the beauty and value in their work through dialogs and panel discussions with prominent museum curators and artists from across genres.  She has launched the careers of international artists such as Julie Mehretu, one of the most important contemporary artists of our time, and Mie Olise  Kjærgaard, a rising star from Denmark discovered in a Saatchi Sensations exhibition, having given Mehretu her first gallery exhibition and Olise her first U.S. exhibition. She was also one of the first to bring to Houston the influential names of Joseph Beuys, Kiki Smith, Jonathan Borofsky, Allan McCollum, and Gilbert & George among many others.  She brought progressive international exhibitions such as Leipzig Select, artists from the New Leipzig School, and exhibitions for Beijing East Village artists Zhang Huan and Li Wei.  Barbara Davis Gallery was one of the first Texas galleries to be included in the influential and prestigious Art Basel Miami Beach art fair.  The gallery’s exhibitions have been reviewed in international publications such as ArtForum, Art in America, Art News, Flash Art International, The Art Economist, and The New York Times among many others.  Her passion for exhibiting innovative contemporary art and her commitment to educating her collectors and the community has driven the focus of the gallery for 39 years. 
  • Home
  • CURRENT
  • ABOUT
  • ARTISTS
  • CONTACT