By Naomi Fisher, Bas Fisher Invitational

Living in Miami, the idea of painting at the beach perhaps is corrupted by legions of Sunday painters whose work populate doctor’s offices and cruise ships with crude representations of a tourist’s dream.  Contemporary Art in Miami often comments on the perpetually-under-construction shifts of this city – and the nature that often threatens to overtake it.  Rarely does it examine the beach itself.

Tyson Reeder is an artist with an expansive practice: with his brother Scott and fellow Milwaukee cohorts he started Club Nutz (a comedy club), the Dark Fair (an art fair in the dark), and the Milwaukee International (an art fair in a Wisconsin bowling alley).  He is part of a group actively building community in the Midwest.  As a painter, Reeder’s small-scale canvases have a darting energy akin to Impressionism painted on a jet plane.  Reeder’s practice is an on-the-go yet in-depth exploration of medium, color, and vision.

Mr. Reeder creates florid, shimmering vistas without needing much surface area. The small works, like “Green Tree” and “Pink Horizon,” could be fragments of a Bonnard … its pastel palette and palm trees, suggests Polke in Key West. -Karen Rosenberg, NY Times, 2011 What makes it all work is Mr. Reeder’s confidence with color and his concentrated mixings of drawing mediums — crayon, marker, pencil, watercolor, synthetic paint. If the images sometimes seem childlike, the surfaces are anything but; the best of them are deliberately wrought and beautiful — and in their own way, deadly serious -Roberta Smith, NY Times, 2004

Coming from cold and windy Chicago, Reeder imagines his perfect art holiday is to get away and paint on the beach.  In December 2011 & December 2012, Tyson & Scott Reeder set-up al fresco on the Deauville’s beachfront, sticking canvases in the sand and painting among the NADA Art Fair revelers.  Their Beach Painting Club brought artists together to freely observe, frolic & paint.  The paintings made during the 2012 event were sold as a Hurricane Sandy Benefit.  Artists Spencer Sweeney, Aurel Schmidt, Jim Drain, Jess Fuller, Naomi Fisher (and many more) painted with the Reeders for this cause.  BFI co-sponsored the 2012 event with the NADA pool party.

As part of BFI #BeachFrontImports WEIRD MIAMI initiative, artist Tyson Reeder has been invited to spend two weeks painting on South Florida Beaches.  From January 6th until his show opens, Tyson Reeder will be on a South Florida beach somewhere painting. Additionally, Reeder will host a WEIRD MIAMI bus tour on Saturday, January 26 (click here to buy tickets).  Advance tickets are $25.  After January 21st, tickets will be $35. This unique one-time only tour with Internationally-renowned artist Tyson Reeder will take you to many beaches and postcard worthy views, with plenty of snacks and opportunities to sketch with the artist.

• Opening Reception: Thursday, January 24th 7-10PM
• WEIRD MIAMI bus tour with Tyson Reeder: Saturday, January 26th starting at am. Click here to book a seat.
• BFI #BeachFrontImports: 100 NE 11th Street, Miami FL 33132. (Two blocks from Canonball and CIFO in Downtown Miami) [email protected] or www.basfisherinvitational.com

Tyson Reeder Beach Painting Club