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Installation view at Ditch Projects in Springfield Oregon.

Installation view at Ditch Projects in Springfield Oregon.

 

Opening at Anat Ebgi Gallery, Los Angeles tomorrow August 3rd is the solo exhibition, “Mixed Dealings” by Reader. Traveling repeatedly throughout the US, Reader has quiet literally made a name for himself that is there for all to see. Leaving a mass of public adornments for over a decade, Reader has maintained an illusiveness and anonymous presence in a desolate grey zone between so called “street art” and graffiti. In recent years Reader carried his oft-cryptic messages of literacy and inquiry into the gallery at the encouragement of his longtime friend Elias Hansen (Lawrimore Project, Seattle 2011).

 

A scavenger and “relocator” of the discarded and overlooked, Reader transforms untraceable detritus into the foundations of mixed media screen prints and sculptures. His workspace resembles a “byproduct chop-shop” more than it does a traditional artist’s studio.

 

Characteristic of his work is the striking and recurrent use of text. Reader revives now nearly obsolete newspaper boxes and presents them in a context suggestive of ulterior purposes. The boxes themselves, isolated from their natural environment, appear to be salvaged by any available means. Scorched and mutilated they are newly employed by a rival enterprise. Metal sheets accented with both vibrant and weathered hues are welded together in a patchwork reminiscent of color field painting.

 

The exhibition will be on view until August 31st.

 

For more information visit here.