Opening reception Saturday, January 21, 2012. 6 – 8 pm.
Exhibition runs through February 11, 2012
Gavlak Gallery is pleased to present the first exhibition of John Loring collages since his last exhibition at Pace Editions in 1977 and our second solo exhibition of paintings and prints by Scott Reeder.
Scott Reeder has created new abstract paintings using spaghetti, continuing the focus of his current solo exhibition at the MCA Chicago. Reeder is part of a generation of artists today who admire the history of painting and take cues from Picasso, Milton Avery, Phillip Guston, etc. but are also interested in turning that revered history on its head-- similar to that of Martin Kippenberger, George Condo and Karen Kilimnik in both style of painting and subject matter. His paintings are a balance of homage and critique that use humor as a point of departure. In Reeder’s own words, “I have found that humor is a great lure in attracting that initial engagement, maybe even sometimes drawing in someone who might not otherwise be interested in art. The recurring subtext or punch line of my work is always about asking a viewer to question preconceptions.”
Reeder's process of using cooked and uncooked spaghetti (and even lentils) as the basis for his abstract forms provides a demystifying view of the often intimidating world of abstract painting, thus simultaneously challenging and engaging in its conventions. Also featured in the exhibition are prints of witty, handwritten lists of alliterative phrases that Reeder keeps in his studio as inspirations for paintings. Presented here, the multi-colored lists such as “New Kinds of Music” with genres such as “Country Trance,” “Gray Metal”, “Christian Grime” and “Speed Ambient”, provide a conceptual and linguistic context for the paintings.
