Scott Reeder USA, b. 1970
Tall Igloo, 1996
Oil on canvas
36 x 16 in
91.4 x 40.6 cm
91.4 x 40.6 cm
5905
Scott Reeder has said, 'My work almost always starts with language.' Even his seemingly least text based works—his pasta paintings, which use pasta as a sort of stencil to create...
Scott Reeder has said, "My work almost always starts with language." Even his seemingly least text based works—his pasta paintings, which use pasta as a sort of stencil to create seemingly abstract linear compositions—were inspired when Reeder wrote the sentence "pasta paintings," prior to knowing what it was he was trying to say or do. Here, for example, we have the painting Tall Igloo, which is exactly what the title claims it is. The question inevitable comes up, however: "What else is it?"
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.
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.