Repost from
@greenenaftali
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DAVID DIAO on the cover of Art in America, Fall 2025: Icons Issue
Alex Greenberger profiles DAVID DIAO’s efforts to “hijack the history of modernism to make it more inclusive”:
Diao’s works are laced with allusions—mainly to paintings by the likes of Kazimir Malevich, Robert Motherwell, and, of course, Newman—but when Diao makes his references, he does so by undermining his source material. He seems to express reverence for all these European and American painters before knocking them down a peg. [...] In his work, Diao fights fire with fire, wrestling his way into the canon by any means necessary. As artist Michelle Grabner, who included Diao in the section of the 2014 Whitney Biennial that she curated, put it, “He’s basically giving us new histories.”
— Alex Greenberger, Art in America
Over five decades, David Diao’s paintings have dismantled the tenets of modernism from within, exploring the shadow side of its reductive geometries as a source of untapped potential. Visit Greene Naftali’s website to view an online presentation featuring a selection of seminal works from 1972–2024, charting alternative legacies for abstraction with a potent blend of reverence and doubt.
Pictured: David Diao, Barnett Newman: Paintings by Title & Size, 1992. Acrylic and vinyl on canvas, 79 x 118 1/2 inches (201 x 301 cm); Cover of Art in America, Fall 2025, featuring David Diao, Bauhaus Looking to De Stijl, 2018 (detail); David Diao, Wealth of Nations, 1972. Acrylic on canvas, 84 x 132 inches (213 x 589 cm).
#daviddiao
![Repost from @greenenaftali•DAVID DIAO on the cover of Art in America, Fall 2025: Icons IssueAlex Greenberger profiles DAVID DIAO’s efforts to “hijack the history of modernism to make it more inclusive”:Diao’s works are laced with allusions—mainly to paintings by the likes of Kazimir Malevich, Robert Motherwell, and, of course, Newman—but when Diao makes his references, he does so by undermining his source material. He seems to express reverence for all these European and American painters before knocking them down a peg. [...] In his work, Diao fights fire with fire, wrestling his way into the canon by any means necessary. As artist Michelle Grabner, who included Diao in the section of the 2014 Whitney Biennial that she curated, put it, “He’s basically giving us new histories.”— Alex Greenberger, Art in AmericaOver five decades, David Diao’s paintings have dismantled the tenets of modernism from within, exploring the shadow side of its reductive geometries as a source of untapped potential. Visit Greene Naftali’s website to view an online presentation featuring a selection of seminal works from 1972–2024, charting alternative legacies for abstraction with a potent blend of reverence and doubt.Pictured: David Diao, Barnett Newman: Paintings by Title & Size, 1992. Acrylic and vinyl on canvas, 79 x 118 1/2 inches (201 x 301 cm); Cover of Art in America, Fall 2025, featuring David Diao, Bauhaus Looking to De Stijl, 2018 (detail); David Diao, Wealth of Nations, 1972. Acrylic on canvas, 84 x 132 inches (213 x 589 cm).#daviddiao](https://sp1.picnob.com/p/pt_6764673913721849335450_0_411c185626be92518ebd24785b54bab8.jpg?o=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&h=02a4a2be3c4b47423bc206d235551ae6)
