Paul REED - Viangle

Paul Reed one of the six original Washington Color School painters, was known for his colorfield painting using the technique of soak-staining pigment into the canvas. At that time, this method differed dramatically from the thickly painted gestural strokes of the New York School’s action paintings. The Color School artists employed thinned, acrylic paint that was absorbed into the canvas itself, emphasizing the flatness of the image and focusing on color and design. This technique created abstract fields, or shapes, of color, which for some artists were simplifications of forms in nature. These works have a dynamic lyricism that claims the picture space.

Reed had his first solo exhibition at the Adams-Morgan Gallery in 1963. He was one of six artists, including Morris Louis and Kenneth Noland, to show in the 1965 exhibition, “The Washington Color Painters” held at the Washington Gallery of Modern Art.