A Heart of Glass. David Reed's innovative work has realized its painterly self-definition in the context of the epochal movements of abstract expressionism, pop art, and minimalism. Reed's significance, which has yet to be fully acknowledged, lies in his demonstration of the self-transformations that painting must undergo to achieve adequate results in the conditions of a digital reality, all while embodying both sensual opulence and analytical clarity. Reed's painting draws from the fundamental experience of a reality that can only be perceived in the mode of images. Behind the seemingly authentic experience, the apparently real body, surrogate images always lurk, for within Reed's cosmos, the surrogate takes the place of the authentic, as it is the only option in a world dominated by images.