Tom Rees (b. 1988, UK) creates oil paintings that are offhand in their execution. His paintings come to life instinctively without any preliminary drawings or immediate source material. He works quickly, echoing automatic writing and drawing practices. Paintings, therefore, unfold as a stream of consciousness.
Details are unnecessary and objects are basal. The atmosphere in his paintings is askew,subjects are engaged in compromised positions – disembodied, trampled, or defeated men and randy hammers, caustic landscapes, sludge. Rees' alternate world blurs the line between allegory and reality, drawing from noir, art brut, and muralism components. His works seek to provoke and make you laugh, but not at the expense of complexity.
Rees got his BA degree in Fine Arts from Goldsmiths, University of London. His recent exhibitions include, ‘OOPS One (Outstanding) Person Show. Tom Rees: 101 Paintings hosted by Kenny Schacter, Tom of Finland Art and Culture Festival (Los Angeles) and ‘Unsafe at Any Speed’ A group show curated by Kenny Schacter, Morton Street Partners (New York).
