From left to right: Gavin Russom, Daniel Reich, Karen Heagle, Paul P., Shelby Hughes, and Nick Mauss at a photo shoot for New York magazine in 2003. Photo: Christian Holstad.

THE ACT OF ART-MAKING IS MESSY AND DIFFICULT. People are much more complicated than materials.

Most artists can close their studio doors and hide their struggles. But Daniel worked every day in an atmosphere filled with personalities to whom he chose to expose his own complexities.

Daniel was an artist with a vision driven firstly by Love. This was most evident in his expansive writings and prescient, crystalline curating. When I look at this still-working list of artists he exhibited over the years, his vision, at times seemingly fragmented, becomes instantly, plainly clear.

Christian Holstad is an artist living in New York.