Scott Reeder | Dog Poems

David Klein Gallery is pleased to present Dog Poems, Scott Reeder’s first solo exhibition with the gallery. The exhibition will be on view October 24 through December 5, 2026, with a reception for the artist on Friday, November 6, from 5 to 8 PM. An artist talk featuring Reeder in conversation with James Benjamin Franklin will take place on Saturday, November 7, at 3 PM.

Known for his irreverent wit and deft engagement with the absurd, Scott Reeder approaches painting with a sensibility that is at once playful and deeply attuned to the history of the medium. His distinctive body of work encompasses text-based List paintings, large-scale abstractions, and portraits of dogs and skeletons navigating the familiar rituals of human existence. With an understated sense of humor, Reeder transforms the ordinary into the quietly surreal. His canine protagonists inhabit a world of leisurely pleasures, browsing the internet against a sunset skyline or enjoying a martini alongside a good book.

In Dog Poems, Reeder's latest paintings evoke the exuberant color and spatial experimentation of early twentieth-century Fauvism, particularly Henri Matisse's celebrated Open Window, Collioure (1905). Painted on the southern coast of France, Matisse's iconic composition helped usher in a radical new approach to color, liberating it from the conventions of naturalistic representation. Reeder playfully revisits this visual language, placing his sophisticated canine subjects within sun-drenched interiors overlooking lush landscapes and the Mediterranean Sea. One might imagine these pampered inhabitants comfortably installed at the legendary Hôtel Méditerranée, contemplating the view between moments of cultivated leisure.

Working in a vibrant palette of electric blues, saturated greens, and luminous pinks, Reeder embraces the expressive possibilities of color while introducing a distinctly contemporary sense of humor. His paintings operate simultaneously as affectionate nods to art history and sly observations on the comforts, aspirations, and absurdities of modern life. Beneath their seemingly effortless charm lies a thoughtful interplay between painterly tradition, visual pleasure, and the peculiar comedy of being human.

About the Artist

Scott Reeder is a multidisciplinary artist based in Chicago and Detroit whose practice encompasses painting, sculpture, and film. His work has been exhibited extensively throughout the United States and internationally, including at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, Wisconsin; CANADA, New York; Casa Gilardi, Mexico City; Gavin Brown's Enterprise, New York; 356 Mission, Los Angeles; Lisa Cooley, New York; Kavi Gupta, Chicago; and Luce Gallery, Turin, Italy.

His work is represented in numerous public and private collections, including the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; and KADIST, Paris.

Reeder received his MFA from the University of Illinois Chicago and his BFA from the University of Iowa. He is an Associate Professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.