David Best
Untitled, 2012
78.75 x 40 in. (paper: 87.25 x 47 in.)

David Best’s new series of untitled prints find a common ground between the colorfully embellished world of professional racing, in which every available surface is emblazoned with logos and the top brand names are worshipped with a near-religious piety, and the richly detailed, densely foliate abstractions of Middle Eastern and Celtic textiles, as well as occasional imagery from other spiritual traditions. By combining the archly secular brand fetishism of the racing circuit with patterns and iconographies of prayer and devotion, Best – known both for his love of racing and the intensely spiritual, reflective nature of his work – asks us to consider the other side of both worlds. After all, there is an element of the supernatural and more than a little faith involved in the decision to send one’s body hurtling through the desert at 200+ mph; meanwhile, global wars fought in the name of good and evil may ultimately have more to do with profits and the oil trade.