David Reed

Born in 1946 in San Diego (USA), he lives in New York.

David Reed is one of the most influential abstract painters of his generation. Since his earliest exhibitions in the sixties, critics have claimed that his art creates a new genre of painting which calls into question the ideals of modernism. Drawing inspiration from a number of artistic currents, from baroque and mannerist painting to abstract expressionism and post-minimalism, he creates canvases of the richly coloured swirling forms which have become his trademark.

The works on display at Les Abattoirs are painted with broad brushes in rapid, spontaneous strokes. Sweeping, serpentine lines evoke folds or intertwined ribbons, immersing the viewer in a kind of visual cataclysm. This self-proclaimed "painter of bedrooms" can also claim a hypnotic rapport with the painting. This leads to a veritable mise-en-abime of object painted and painted object which can be seen in Vertigo, the 1993 installation created by Reed, based on stills from Hitchcock's film, in which painting, film, and video are intimately entwined in a recreation of Judie's (played by Kim Novak) bedroom at the Empire Hotel.