Jerrold Davis’s new paintings at the Quay Gallery are somewhat reminiscent of D. H. Lawrence’s Male and Female Allegories of thirty years ago. Davis is an awkward draftsman and a better than average colorist. The paintings are very powerful and are saved from abysmal ugliness by thin color application, running from transparent blues to creamy off-white.

These current works differ from older examples in that Davis has decided to firmly render the figure rather than merely suggest it within the context of a basically abstract painting. Like Loran’s latest pictures, these seem transitional works that will develop into more integrated figure-ground combinations in future paintings.

––James Monte