| As a contemporary painter, Shelley Reed is in part a bricoleur. Her imagery is borrowed from art historical sources, sometimes wholesale, sometimes from details of other paintings, and sometimes cobbled together and re-contextualized. Reed deftly melds aspects of painting, theater, and cinema to create complex narratives rich with beauty, drenched in mystery, and fraught with anxiety. She magnifies the power of these paintings by taking full advantage of the human fascination with animals, our biological and existential Other. Her images highlight the enduring eloquence of the originals and explore their continued relevance in today’s world. |  |
Nick Capasso
As a contemporary painter, Shelley Reed is in part a bricoleur. Her imagery is borrowed from art historical sources, sometimes wholesale, sometimes from details of other paintings, and sometimes cobbled together and re-contextualized. Reed deftly melds aspects of painting, theater, and cinema to create complex narratives rich with beauty, drenched in mystery, and fraught with anxiety. She magnifies the power of these paintings by taking full advantage of the human fascination with animals, our biological and existential Other. Her images highlight the enduring eloquence of the originals and explore their continued relevance in today’s world. By replacing the original color with black and white, she removes a decorative element and enhances the narrative, often one of implied aggression and danger.
