“Exploring the Portable Murals of David Novros”
**Art Review: David Novros at Paula Cooper Gallery**
David Novros’s recent exhibition at Paula Cooper Gallery in New York underscores his innovative approach to painting, transforming wall-mounted canvases into intricate, multi-paneled experiences. His work challenges the traditional notion of paintings as static objects, integrating the physical wall into the artwork itself.
Novros’s multi-part paintings, composed of horizontal and inverted L-shaped panels, turn the wall into an active participant in the artwork. This approach is influenced by his revelation at the Alhambra in Granada, where he realized that paintings could inhabit a space rather than merely exist as hung objects. His “portable murals” are designed to interact with their environment, ensuring that the space and light within it are integral to the viewer’s experience.
Highlighting pieces such as “Untitled” (2024) and “Untitled” (2025), the exhibition showcases Novros’s meticulous orchestration of monochromatic panels. These panels vary in thickness and width, inviting viewers to engage from different distances to appreciate nuanced details like underpainting and drips. The deliberate spaces between them add to this dynamic, reinforcing the handmade, impermanent nature of the work.
“Untitled” (2024) features 20 panels forming three dark horizontal bars interspersed with lighter L-shaped panels, creating a rhythmic yet asymmetrical visual experience. The layering of colors and the variance in the widths of panels evoke a sense of imperfection and change, much like the transient light and shadow that play upon them.
The complexity escalates with “Untitled” (2025), consisting of 37 panels in a façade-like arrangement. Novros employs a palette of five colors, manipulating panel positions, sizes, and protrusions to craft continuous visual transformation. The piece interacts dynamically with natural light, echoing the works of artists like Robert Ryman and Suzan Frecon, whose art embraces the passage of time.
Complementing his canvases are Novros’s watercolors, where varied colored bands set against white paper glow softly. These works, like his larger pieces, invite viewers to slow down, experience the interplay of structure and color, and find renewal through focused observation.
David Novros’s exhibition at Paula Cooper Gallery offers a museum-worthy exploration of how painting can transcend its boundaries, connecting the art, the space, and the observer in a dance of perception and reflection. The show is on view until April 25.