" I Do Not Doubt Interiors Have Their Interiors, and Exteriors Have Their Exteriors, and That The Eyesight has Another Eyesight, and The Hearing Another Hearing, and The Voice Another Voice.”

– Walt Whitman

“This quote by Walt Whitman seems to encapsulate the dimensionality of the creative spirit of my friend, Andre Martinez-Reed. My first encounter with Andre Martinez Reed was at the Henry Gregg Gallery, which he owned and curated. The power and diversity of works on exhibit were quick to spark a lively interchange. It was immediately apparent that the works exhibited were, in a sense, reflections of Andre’s keen, discerning, and often spiritual sensibility. As my relationship with Andre deepened, I realized he was truly an artist accomplished in several diverse art forms. His rich background as a composer, and drummer, working with legendary Cecil Taylor and other jazz greats, coalesced with his abstraction in visual art. As a photographer, in addition to exhibiting in his gallery, I was fortunate enough too photograph a selection from the treasure trove of Andre’s paintings. The colors flow, the forms lay rhythmically on the canvas and dance almost as a jazz drum beats-one art form flowing in syncopation into another, often surrendering to the spirit beneath the paint, waiting to appear... This collection of images, coming together in a book, will provide sustaining victuals for a searching artistic soul.”

- Anthony Almeida, Photographer, Chairman of Photography Initiatives, Salmagundi Club, New York, NY