David Diao: On Barnett Newman

David Diaos painterly tributes to Barnett Newman explore the contradictory legacies of Modernism David Diao (born 1943) has long turned to Barnett Newmans work as a spur and a foil to his own. This richly illustrated catalog surveys his sustained fascination with the Abstract Expressionist master. Diao worked as an art handler in his 20s and installed Newmans Stations of the Cross at the Guggenheim in 1966a signal event that he credits with setting his own course as a painter. On Barnett Newman, 19912023 documents a cycle of paintings that tabulate the elder artists career through lushly painted charts, lists and diagrams that filter geometric abstraction through the lens of tribute. An original essay by Jeffrey Weiss details the complex blend of reverence and wry humor for which Diao has become known, citing this series as emblematic of his foundational critical ambivalence regarding modernismits role as a source of pleasure and skepticism in equal measure.