04 Dec PorTraits
Source Credit: Content and images from Wall Street International Magazine by . Read the original article - https://www.meer.com/en/85783-portraits
Fredericks & Freiser is pleased to announce porTraits, an exhibition of new
paintings by David Humphrey, a painter known for his dynamic and introspective
approach to depicting the intersections of social relationships and individual
psychology. In this series, Humphrey delves into a nuanced concept of portrayal,
asking: Are all artworks, in some way, self-portraits of their creators?
In porTraits, Humphrey examines the nuances of personal narrative through
paintings that blend humor, psychological inquiry, and painterly wit. His works offer
a visual meditation on contemporary theories of selfhood, developing images from
the public realm into imaginative hybrids that combine the social with the
eccentrically individual; the historically referential with the vividly contemporary.
In the gallery’s main room, these paintings unfold as dynamic, figure-driven
compositions that speak to human complexity and self-definition. Humphrey’s bold
palette and varied painting languages give form to philosophical questions about
relational and emergent selves, transforming these ideas into accessible, often
humorous visual metaphors.
The exhibition takes a deeply personal turn in the gallery’s back room, where
Humphrey’s wife, artist Jennifer Coates, will create a special portrait of him using his
own drawings, paintings, sculptures, and even music videos. This portrait within a
portrait adds an intimate dimension, revealing the artist’s multivalent interests and
his thorough exploration of bewilderment at being human in this moment.
David Humphrey (b. 1955) is a distinguished American painter whose career spans
over four decades, with 47 solo exhibitions at galleries including McKee Gallery,
Sikkema Jenkins & Co., Fredric Snitzer Gallery, and the Contemporary Arts Cen-
ter in Cincinnati. His work is featured in the collections of major institutions such
as the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; The
Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; and the Saatchi
Gallery, London. A recipient of the prestigious Rome Prize, Humphrey is also a fac-
ulty member in Columbia University’s MFA program. In 2020, Fredericks & Freiser
published a monograph on his career, edited by Davy Lauterbach with essays by
Wayne Koestenbaum and Lytle Shaw, and an interview with Jennifer Coates.
porTraits marks his seventh solo exhibition with the gallery.
Source Credit: Content and images from Wall Street International Magazine by . Read the original article - https://www.meer.com/en/85783-portraits