David Humphrey

Fredericks & Freiser is pleased to present 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 Center 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 faculty 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.