Peter Blum is pleased to announce the exhibition David Reed: Works on Paper. On view are over 60 recent working drawings and color studies. This is the first exhibition of David Reed at Peter Blum Gallery, and the first exhibition of Reed’s working drawings and color studies anywhere.

Well-known for his abstract paintings, the working drawings and color studies provide a rare glimpse into David Reed’s process and contemplations. The color studies display Reed’s experiments with color, light, and form. Works such as Color Study #27 exhibit his signature winding, wrapping, rhythmic ribbon-like shapes, and lay the groundwork for the paintings. While the working drawings, ultimately, provide a kind of diary of the artist and each painting, recording Reed’s deliberations and struggles with the work over days, or even years. For example, in Working Drawing #295-3 Reed writes, “3/19 Thought at first that this would work – no longer sure.” Likewise, they contain a biographic and personal element, chronicling events in Reed’s life, from studio visits to protests occurring outside his window. Made on grid paper, the working drawings possess the qualities of an architectural drawing with schematics outlining compositions and dimensions, or a scientific journal with detailed notes on decisions made regarding color. Just as Reed turns his paintings as he works, he turns the drawings, resulting in writing that is at times upside down or sideways.

In these works on paper, working through his written notes, Reed visually analyzes the formulas for blending paints and layering glazes by painting the color studies directly on single or multiple sheets of paper.

David Reed has exhibited extensively internationally. His work was included in the 1975 and 1989 Whitney Biennial Exhibitions, while recent group exhibitions include Sammlung Reloaded at the Kunstmuseum Bonn, and Das Kapital. Blue Chips and Masterpieces at the Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt. Solo exhibitions include David Reed – You Look Good in Blue, at Kunstmuseum St. Gallen and Kunstverein Hannover; David Reed Paintings: Motion Pictures at the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, which traveled to the Wexner Center for the Arts, the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University and P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, New York.