Fredericks & Freiser is pleased to announce 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.