A Palazzo Gallery

During the last 10 years, Alan Reid has pursued a line of thinking in painting that incorporates an interest in the history of the medium, painting’s echo in culture, modes of desire, and the linguistic instability of painting’s presence.

Reid’s perceptually light paintings, feature an ever-evolving cast of life-sized, imagined figures, primarily women, seemingly sourced from cinema and the pages of fashion magazines. In contrast to the beauty of the depicted subjects, Reid’s paintings often have added elements collaged to the surface, functioning variously as absurdist clothing, scenery or as a linguistic foil.

His works are studies in ambiguity, oscillating between familiarity and obscurity. Faces initially register with clarity and security, but quickly lead to bewilderment. Reid prefers to remain vague and passive in gene rating meaning, and shifts attention to the interpretive abilities of the viewer. For The Chameleon, Reid has created a series of figure-based paintings taking as a launching point the abstracted image of a fig leaf as their launching point. In addition, a new facet of his work, text-based abstractions will accompany the figures.

Alan Reid (b. 1976) lives and works in New York. Recent exhibitions include With, Lisa Cooley, NY; Boudoir Concrete, Mary Mary, Glasgow; Galerie Jacky Strenz, Frankfurt; Talbot Rice, Edinburgh; Keno Twins 5, curated by Michael Bauer at Barriera, Torino; Make-Up, A Palazzo Gallery, Brescia, Today at Lisa Cooley, NY.