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Early Work: 1984-94
Throughout her career, Jennifer Wynne Reeves returned time and again to moments of love, anger, disappointment, joy, desire, apathy, grief, hope, and relief to fuel her art and writing. Those unfamiliar with her life and work might think it miserable: Reeves’ mother was institutionalized for schizophrenia and her father was murdered when she was thirteen, leaving Reeves in her grandmother’s full custody. The twenty-something artist then uprooted her American life to move to Paris with her husband, a whirlwind romance turned abusive marriage that later ended in divorce.
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I loved to draw, especially animals, like a lot of girls, but I hated dolls or anything to do with dolls. There was a great deal of turmoil in my family life from an early age. I think I expressed this by making drawings of animals being hunted and dying from gunshot wounds. I almost never drew the humans, just the animals and the guns at the edge of the picture with little balls flying through the air.[1]
[1] Jennifer Wynne Reeves, Interviewed by Marcia Schwartz, March 1, 2013, http://figureground.org/interview-with-wynne-reeves/
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Life Drawing Sketches
Vermont Studio School, 1985 -
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Struggle Series
1993In 1993, Reeves completed a number of acrylic on board paintings as part of her Struggle series. Contemplating order and disorder, Reeves’ exasperated marks in somber black, browns, and blues transport us to the eye of the storm.
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Day, Look, and Reach series
1994The following year in 1994, Reeves returned to her studio each day determined to “let go of the slug imagery and make a painting a day without relying on what [she] usually did to resolve them.”[1] Reeves began a few new series, namely, Day, Look, and Reach, through which she explored mark-making and further developed her understanding of spatial relationships. Some works, like Look (2), challenge our understanding of positive and negative space, while others, like Day 20, invite us to follow her brushstrokes as they wander up and across the wood.
[1] Julia Schwartz, Interview with Jennifer Wynne Reeves, March 1, 2013, http://figureground.org/interview-with-wynne-reeves/
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LOOKING, SEEING, PAINTING "PLACE"
1995-1998In over 100 paintings in acrylic, gouache, and oil on paper, panel, wood, and board, Jennifer Wynne Reeves created surreal bucolic landscapes to celebrate the particularities of place. Working in figuration and abstraction, Reeves learned to paint in two languages: one reserved for white picket fences, wooden barns, and fields of yellow and green, and the other for her characters who traversed these pastoral lands. Reeves called these characters her “guys,” some striped or blobbed, others gooped or strewn about her signature horizon line. The Place series, as she named it, put Reeves on the map and set her reputation as a “painter’s painter” - in her hands, a single tube of paint could become a blade of grass, the wood grain on a barn wall, or a multicolor blitz smudged into the scene.
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In 1997, as part of the Place series, Reeves continued playing with surface and texture by painting birthday cakes. Twenty-five years later, the waxy candles wait for a birthday wish and the thick, fluffy ribbons of frosting still look good enough to eat.
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INITIAL IMPULSE
1999-2001In her Initial Impulse series, Reeves paid tribute to the very intuition and instinct that brings people together and projects to life. Experimenting with new ways of illustrating waves, grass, stones, and cloudy skies, Reeves would lay clumpy, clay-like acrylic in piles next to watered-down paint droplets. She built up lines of paint, thin and thick, crimped and smoothed, letting their colors fade into one another. The highly motivated, insatiably curious Reeves would also revisit paintings to rework their compositions, as seen in Initial Impulse: Singing Lines (1999) and Initial Impulse: The Lines Are Everywhere (2000). The Initial Impulse series was the subject of a fall 2018 exhibition at BravinLee programs in New York City.
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Jennifer Wynne ReevesInitial Impulse: Texture Forgets to Say Goodbye, 1999Acrylic on panel37 x 70 in
94 x 177.8 cm -
Jennifer Wynne ReevesInitial Impulse: Blue Square Dreams of Salt, 1999Acrylic on birch panel47 x 33 in
119.4 x 83.8 cm -
Initial Impulse: Morning Sex, 1999, Acrylic, pencil on birch hardwood, 21 1/2 x 31 1/2 in
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Initial Impulse: Bigger & Brighter, 1999, Acrylic, pencil, on birch panel, 37 x 60 in
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Home studio
Callicoon, New York-
Painted interior walls, hallway
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Studio
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Reeves working in her studio
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Reeves working in her studio
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This video was created by Jennifer Wynne Reeves' friend Catherine De Lattre. Take a peek at the world where Jennifer created and mused for the last years of her life.
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CRITICS & DEALERS
2000-2003In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Jennifer Wynne Reeves participated in a number of solo and group shows across New York City. Upon returning to her studio, tucked away in the small Delaware River town of Callicoon, New York, Reeves realized she had a lot to say about the way the so-called Art World worked. The witty and outspoken artist began adding text to her paintings, turning them into satirical comic strip frames that mocked dealers and critics alike. Some were bold and brazen, like Liberal Minded Art Dealer Gets Drunk, Talks too Loud (2000), with large text bubbles that demanded attention. Later works, like Art Critic Visits A Studio, Presents His Wiener For A Show, were more mischievous, using teeny, tiny text that required visitors to step closer to the work and squint, only to step back with a loud “ha!”, a small chuckle of embarrassment, or cover their eyes in disbelief. In Reeves’s life, art, and writing, nothing was off limits: there were no taboos and no need to feel ashamed around money, sex, or politics.
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Press
reviews, interviews and other press highlights of Reeves-
The Chicago Maroon
Cheryl Ryan 1992 Read Here -
The Christian Science Monitor
Addison Parks 1992 Read Here -
The Ann Arbor News
John Carlos Cantu 1995 Read Here -
Martha Keller
1995 Read Here -
Ann Arbour News
John Carlos Cantu 1995 Read Here -
New Art Examiner
Matthew Biro 1996 Read Here -
Khristi Zimmeth
1996 Read Here -
The Aspen Times
Carrie Click 1996 Read Here -
Art In America
David Ebony 1997 Read Here -
New York Times
Ken Johnson 1998 Read Here -
ArtForum
Donald Kuspit 1998 Read Here -
The Village Voice
Kim Levin 1998 Read Here -
Review (The Critical State of Visual Art in New York)
Dominique Nahas 1998 Read Here -
NY Arts Magazine
Victoria Hanks 1998 Read Here -
The New York Observer
Jeffery Hogrefe 1998 Read Here -
New York Times
Helen Harrison 1998 Read Here -
ArtNet
David Ebony 1999 Read Here -
ArtNews
Katie Clifford 2000 Read Here -
New York Times
Holland Cotter 2001 Read Here -
Tema Celeste
Linda Weintraub 2001 Read Here -
Art In America
Sarah Valdes 2001 Read Here -
Worcester Art Museum
2001 Read Here -
The New Yorker
2003 Read Here -
Metro Times
Vince Carducci 2005 Read Here -
New York Magazine
Jerry Saltz 2011 Read Here -
Figure/Ground
Julia Schwartz 2013 Read Here -
The New Yorker
Johanna Fateman 2019 Read Here
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IT’S A “GUYS” WORLD
2003-2005When she wasn’t poking fun at critics and dealers, Jennifer Wynne Reeves was busy learning how to figure the abstract and create virtually infinite realms for her “stick guys,” “line guys,” and “dot guys” (the names she gave to her stacked globs of paint). Reeves, who had a knack for interior design and painted the walls of every home she lived in, built little rooms for her “guys.” Adopting the traditional one-point perspective, Reeves painted the floors to resemble real hardwood, added castle-like stone walls and bold, funky wallpaper, and sometimes even included furnishings like camelback sofas and shag rugs. Once she set the stage for her cast of characters, Reeves insisted that the walking, talking, thinking “guys” would continue on, embarking on their own representational journeys.
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Painted walls
Hand painted walls complementing solo exhibitions at Galeria Ramis Barquet and David Klein Gallery-
Galeria Ramis Barquet, New York, 2005
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David Klein Gallery, Birmingham, MI, 2005
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Exhibition pamphlets and brochures
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Crux Gallery
1992 View Here -
Alexa Lee Gallery
1996 View Here -
Steven Stux Gallery
1998 View Here -
Max Protetch
2001 View Here -
The Matter At Hand
Ventana 244 Gallery 2001 View Here -
Worcester Art Museum
Museum Calender 2001 View Here -
Worcester Art Museum
2001 View Here -
Danese Gallery
2002 View Here -
Galeria Joan Prats
2004 View Here -
David Klein Gallery
2005 View Here -
Galeria Ramis Barquet
2005 View Here -
Miller Block Gallery
2006 View Here -
Rodger Smith Gallery
2006 View Here -
Galeria Ramis Barquet
2007 View Here -
Galeria Ramis Barquet
2009 View Here
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ON THE ROAD
2005-2011As a child, Jennifer Wynne Reeves rolled in the dandelions and kept real hay in her toy horse barn.[1] As an adult, Reeves lived and walked along the Delaware River almost every evening before coming in for dinner. A voyager at heart, Reeves was incredibly drawn to nature and set out on many road trips to explore the American landscape. Armed with her camera and a suitcase full of handmade “guy” figurines, Reeves would drive for hours, days, and weeks on end in search of new terrain. Her time on the road inspired many lighthearted road sign paintings that warned her “guys” about upcoming “ISSUES,” to beware the “BIG MESS” in five miles, and welcome them to “AWKWARDTOWN.” While on these trips, Reeves found herself climbing up snowy mountains, walking across the rocks on Maine’s coast, and getting lost in Arizona deserts, stopping only to set up her “guys” and snap the perfect shot. Once photographed, Reeves would return to her studio and occasionally, as seen in Boarder Crossing (Maine), decide to paint, draw, and write over the images to add yet another dimension to her work. Even when her cancer diagnosis slowed down her travels, Reeves continued her set-up photography projects from home and produced dozens of archival inkjet prints featuring her “guys” in handmade dioramic worlds.
[1] Jennifer Wynne Reeves, Facebook, March 7, 2013, https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=4416221530558&set=a.1244098469464
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Jennifer Wynne Reeves and "Little Guys" on the road
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Archival inkject prints
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Jennifer Wynne ReevesUntitledArchival inkjet print6 7/8 x 9 5/8 in
17.5 x 24.4 cm -
Jennifer Wynne ReevesUntitledArchival inkjet print6 x 9 in
15.2 x 22.9 cm -
Jennifer Wynne ReevesUntitledArchival inkjet print6 1/2 x 9 7/8 in
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Jennifer Wynne ReevesUntitledArchival inkjet print6 1/2 x 9 7/8 in
16.5 x 25.1 cm
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Jennifer Wynne ReevesUntitledArchival inkjet print6 x 9 in
15.2 x 22.9 cm -
Jennifer Wynne ReevesUntitledArchival inkjet print6 5/8 x 9 7/8 in
16.8 x 25.1 cm -
Jennifer Wynne ReevesUntitledArchival inkjet print6 3/4 x 9 7/8 in
17.1 x 25.1 cm -
Jennifer Wynne ReevesUntitledArchival inkjet print9 7/8 x 6 3/4 in
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Jennifer Wynne ReevesUntitledArchival inkjet print9 x 6 1/2 in
22.9 x 16.5 cm -
Jennifer Wynne ReevesUntitledArchival inkjet print6 x 9 in
15.2 x 22.9 cm -
Jennifer Wynne ReevesUntitledArchival inkjet print9 7/8 x 6 3/4 in
25.1 x 17.1 cm -
Jennifer Wynne ReevesUntitledArchival inkjet print6 1/8 x 9 7/8 in
15.6 x 25.1 cm
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Jennifer Wynne ReevesUntitledArchival inkjet print6 5/8 x 9 7/8 in
16.8 x 25.1 cm -
Jennifer Wynne ReevesUntitledArchival inkjet print6 1/2 x 9 7/8 in
16.5 x 25.1 cm -
Jennifer Wynne ReevesUntitledArchival inkjet print6 7/8 x 9 5/8 in
17.5 x 24.4 cm -
Jennifer Wynne ReevesUntitledArchival inkjet print7 1/2 x 9 5/8 in
19.1 x 24.4 cm
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Publications
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Jennifer Wynne Reeves: All Right for Now
2018Read HereExhibition catalogue for Jennifer Wynne Reeves: All Right For Now, The Drawing Center, New York
October 12, 2018 - February 3, 2019
Essays by Claire Gilman and Matthew Weinstein
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JENNIFER W. REEVES ON FACEBOOK: Insightful on a blank page scratch by scratch
2018Read HereForeward by John Post Lee and introduction by John Yau
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Soul Bolt (Soft Cover)
2012View Front And Back HereJennifer Wynne Reeves, self-published artist book
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Soul Bolt (Hard Cover)
2012View front and back hereJennifer Wynne Reeves, self-published artist book
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Cupid Curl
2011Read HereJennifer Wynne Reeves, self-published artist book
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Arte Americana: Ultimo deccenio
2000 Read here -
Colour me Blind!
Malerei in Zeiten von Computergame und ComicJennifer Wynne Reeves participated in the group exhibition Colour me Blind! that was initiated by the Württembergischer Kunstverein Stuttgart.
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SPIRIT ANIMALS
2012-2014In the last two years of her life, amidst cancer treatments, doctor’s appointments, and three brain surgeries, Jennifer Wynne Reeves leaned into her spirituality and found solace in her art. She painted every animal under the sun with a fierce brush as she had in childhood, only now imbuing them with the wisdom granted by the passage of time. In a Facebook comment, Reeves summarized one painting as such:
“[In Fire, Fall, Flight, Forward,] the rabbit's life is preserved or about to be by the abstract figure on the right. this figure is like the angel, the art spirit, and it has an arm protruding from the picture plane. I’m thinking the arms of abstraction stand for spiritual power or strength, even better, action. or something like that.”[1]
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Jennifer Wynne Reeves speaking about her work at BravinLee Programs
2013 -
Walkthrough of "The Worms in the Walls of Mondrians House" at BravinLee Programs
2013 -
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Jennifer Wynne Reeves dancing to "Good Day Sunshine"
2012 -
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