Killroy Was Here, 2024

Michael Reeder   Emerging artists

Michael Reeder was born in Dallas, Texas in 1982, where he grew up influenced by the local skate and street culture. Drawing and painting in traditional mediums from a young age, Reeder found himself drawn to the underground, unseen, yet very public form of painting graffiti. He later moved to New York City where he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in painting from the School of Visual Arts. Post-college, Michael took a job with Eyecon Studios in Dallas, Texas and learned to paint large-scale, traditional murals. These experiences fused with his early graffiti influence formed and grew into his portraiture work today.

Reeder's current work commands attention through the use of bold color, graphic geometric patterns and realism. His portrait work is heavy, steeped in solemn imagery, yet saturated with bright, eye-popping color. Greatly influenced by the subject of defining identity, his fascination lies within the individual self, and those fleeting in-between or contemplative states that zap you out of mundane reality. Reeder's process is open and free flowing, focused on allowing the work to take on its own sense of self-identity. His work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally, along with numerous printed publications such as New American Paintings, Le Petit Voyeur, and HiFructose Magazine. Reeder participated as an artist in residence at Detroit's Red Bull House of Art in 2016 and currently lives and works in Los Angeles, California.