TYSON REEDER: MENOMONEE VALLEY
September 1– September 29, 2007
Opening reception: Saturday, September 1; 6-9pm
Jack Hanley Gallery, Los Angeles, is pleased to present a solo exhibition of work by Milwaukee-based artist Tyson Reeder, titled Menomonee Valley. The show will include drawings and paintings on paper as well as a video collaboration with the artist’s brother, Scott Reeder.
Menomonee Valley draws inspiration from half-remembered Midwestern icons and events throughout history such as Native American chiefs and various skirmishes over the settlement of the region. Reeder paintings also depict contemporary wastoids and dimly lit neighborhood haunts. The inventive scenes and characters that Reeder create slowly unravel through the use of varied media. A ballpoint pen doodle emerges from a watercolor puddle that vanishes in the bleeding stain of an exploding Sharpie marker. The surface vibrates with improvised patterns and haphazard brushstrokes. An iridescent black shape draws the viewer in and reveals itself as a plastic garbage bag in an alley or creosote dripping down the side of a telephone pole. Rocks have the patterns of stonewashed jeans. (add one more sentence here of analysis bringing together the use of materials and his imagery.)
Tyson Reeder (b.1974, Fairfax, Virginia) currently lives and works in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Reeder recently exhibited a solo show at Daniel Reich Gallery, New York. He has been featured in The New York Times and Flash Art. Reeder co-curated The Early Show at White Columns, New York as well as Drunk vs. Stoned and Drunk vs. Stoned II at Gavin Brown’s Enterprise. He is also a lead organizer of the Milwaukee International Art Fair.