Deanna Sirlin writes about the work of David Reed on the occasion of Painting Paintings (David Reed)1975 on view from April 1- May 21, 2017 at 356 S. Mission Rd, Los Angeles, California (and recently on view at Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University and Gagosian Gallery, New York).

Sirlin observes: “In each decade of his life as an artist, Reed has challenged the idea of art as existing in a vacuum and places his work firmly in the context of the culture at large. Reed’s interest in popular culture is clearly evident in his work. The brushstroke paintings he made in 1975, which relate self-referentially to the architecture of his studio and the physically of his painting process, have become the text he has reworked in subsequent decades. The breaks between the cinematic “frames” of the 1975 paintings reappear in the divisions and shifts of the works that follow. “