Utopian

The scene in the painting Arabesque is so unusual that one cannot help but stop. Six Black ballerinas in a symmetrical formation, standing in "arabesque" position as if they were rehearsing for their performance in a studio. But no: they are standing in the middle of a housing project, in a green area, at the edge of the sidewalk. U.S. artist Noah Davis (1983–2015) placed the six dancers in dazzling white tutus, skimpy tops, and long, creamy-white satin gloves in "Pueblo del Rio," a housing project built in Los Angeles in the early 1940s for low-paid workers and veterans — bright apartment buildings, a "garden city" type of development. Davis pairs the constructed utopia with a social one, placing Black ballerinas at the center of the picture, ballerinas who are still rarely found in large ...