Scott Reeder makes ceramic originals of mass produced, throw away items, including everything from fruit to flip phones to flip flops. When displayed on a pedestal or a shelf, it is easy to think these are everyday items re-imagined as fine art. In his ceramic paintings, however, the ceramic items are glued to the surface of a canvas, which is hung on the wall. Here, the ceramic items become part of a painterly composition: their weight threatens to tear holes in the surface of the work. The crap of daily life is elevated to the status of culture which is literally destroying itself. Is this satire? A joke? A serious, critical statement? In the context of Reeder's work, it could simply be what it is: a picture of an assortment of things, not meant to be over thought, just meant to be looked at.

In many of Reeder’s paintings and neon sculptures, the written word is exactly what it appears to be: a conveyance of thought, unencumbered by conceptual abstraction. Or is it? Sometimes, he seems to be poking fun at something, as in his painting Alternative Titles for Recent Exhibitions I’ve Seen (2014), or More ideas for a TV show episode or a painting (2017). Other times, he seems to be simply making a direct statement of fact, as in his painting Wall Talk (2012), which prominently features those words, or his neon sculpture Interesting (2018). Funny, ironic, whimsical, critical, and sometimes melancholy, Reeder's works excel first and foremost in the art of understatement.