Shiff, Richard — David Reed

New York, Gagosian, 2022. Hardcover. color pictorial boards w/ white printing. approx 156 pgs w/ color illustrations. This book was published on the occasion of David Reed, an exhibition of new paintings at Gagosian, 980 Madison Avenue, New York. Since the outset of his career, Reed’s central preoccupation has been to challenge and reinvent how paintings are made. His work consistently presents a compelling tension between the gestural and the impersonal; in recent times this has been characterized by fluid, torquing, extended marks that reveal the viscosity of paint and the speed of color and light in a flattened manner that looks photographic or filmic.The publication documents fifteen outsize paintings that, in many cases, were over a decade in the making. The plates are punctuated by striking details of several works. The artist’s “working drawings,” which he has long made to document the many stages of a painting’s creation, are illustrated throughout the plate section, offering insights into his varied sources and complex processes. The volume also features a new essay by art historian Richard Shiff that examines the emotional tenor of Reed’s paintings.--Publisher. VG (May have bumping, rubbing to boards, edges & corners) .