Daniel Reich Gallery is pleased to present a two-person exhibition of polymath artists and brothers: Scott and Tyson Reeder.

Born and raised in the Midwest, the Reeder brothers’ work seems to absorb the history of painting reflecting the versatility of the medium in their rakish choice of subject matter. Tyson Reeder’s most recent works largely portray subjects deeply absorbed in playing music: a meditative state corresponding to the fauvist temperament of his palette. A yellow woman at an orange piano is animated by the melodic motion of her shoulders and the convincing delicacy of her single foot and slipper. Scott and Tyson Reeder have long shared what seems at first a lighthearted eccentric approach to painting while on closer inspection their compositions are alive with expert novel sensuous strokes. Their new works successfully meld a quiet nudging humor with astonishingly good old-fashioned painting. For instance, while the catchy title of Scott Reeder’s Flounders Fucking expresses his trademark predilection for the pathetically absurd, his use of oil paint results in a rich aqua stain painting seamlessly transitioning into a golden patina. As Tyson Reeder’s use of musicians conjures a lux environment strangely recalling the completeness of Vuillard’s interiors, Scott Reeder’s brushwork, composition and color choice exemplified by deep umbers possess an academic anachronistic mastery. The disparity between Scott and Tyson Reeder’s choice of titles and subjects and the maturity of what are decisively finished works create a quixotic sense of magical surprise.

In a historic tradition, the Reeder brothers have emerged as painters of modern life who do not dodge its banality and paradox. And when all is said and done, this show is an excellent painting show imbued with what seems quite tangibly (at the present juncture) the long lost pleasure of the media.