Artwork of the month September

David Reed. #313-2, 1992-95

David Reed

*1946 in San Diego


 #313-2, 1992-95


Oil and alkyd on canvas

71.5 x 366.5 x 5 cm

KML 06.39


Former collection Rolf Ricke in the Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, Vaduz, Kunstmuseum St.Gallen, MMK Museum für Moderne Kunst Frankfurt am Main Purchased with funds from the Stiftung Freunde des Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein

David Reed went to New York in 1971 to study painting at the Studio School. There he encountered the extremes of Abstract Expressionism and the works of Minimalism and Postminimalism.
The titles of some of his series – Horizontal Paintings, Vertical Paintings and TV-Size Paintings – betray the crucial role of format in his works, many of which cannot be seen at one go. To take in a painting by Reed, viewers must gaze up and down or left and right. The artist speaks of peripheral vision. It is easy to lose oneself in the sensuous, artistic gesture of the curves and folds that spread across his surfaces. Reed's paintings possess depth and volume; they are object-like in nature despite the unexpectedly smooth texture of their surfaces.

These works are the product of an extremely elaborate process that may take several years to complete. Using a palette knife or a broad paintbrush, Reed efficiently applies alkyd paint, mixed with oils, in spontaneously flowing movements to create looping con- figurations on his extremely elongated picture supports. Months may pass between each additional layer. Layers are then partially sanded down, generating rectangular shapes that look as if they had been inserted. These inserts create blank spaces, disconcertingly interrupting the complex flow of the painting as a whole.

<b>David Reed. #313-2, 1992-95</b>
Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein highlights a work from the permanent collection each month throughout the year. Works from the collection of the Hilti Art Foundation are also included in this series on a regular basis.