Nadiah Fellah reviews the recent exhibition Shelley Reed: In Dubious Battle at Danese Corey Gallery, New York.

Fellah writes: "Reed’s mural-sized paintings evoke the work of realist French or Dutch paintings from a bygone era—although at a slight removal given their monochromatic palettes… By challenging the ideas of originality, Reed prompts viewers to question what constitutes markers of luxury and exoticism, and the value placed upon such items in contemporary society. The ostensible nostalgia that each large-scale painting evokes in its monotone palette is drained of the opulent brilliance one might associate with canvases such as these—one way in which she subverts existing power structures, riffing instead on their inherent absurdity."