Over the Influence is pleased to present Josh Reames “Loaded”
The punks and hippies have all aged, capitalism turns subculture into discounted merchandise; the co-opting of meaning is out of one’s hands and into the masses.
All Barney does is sit at Moe’s and drink. He’s loaded.
The McDonald’s character, Mac Tonight, was adopted by the Alt-Right. He’s loaded too.
Elon Musk just launched a rocket into space. Also, loaded.
In Reames’ exhibition, LOADED, meaning–as applied to signs and signifiers–exists in a fluid state of literal and illusionistic layers, floating in an unfixed, non-hierarchical picture plane.
Pulling iconography references from disparate places–Texas, where he is from and New York, where he lives–Reames’ work uses satire as a form of critique without judgement. Similar to how comedy breaks down defenses and allows audiences to share in laughter, the multiple connotations the imagery in Reames’ paintings conjure welcomes viewers from any perspective. The physical surface of the canvas is as loaded with varied styles of mark-making as the content of the painting is with interpretation.
ARTIST
Josh Reames
Josh Reames was born 1985, Dallas, Texas, and received his MFA from the Art Institute of Chicago and BFA from University of North Texas. Reames was artist-in-residence at Ox Bow (funded by Joan Mitchell Foundation), The Barn, East Hampton, NY and The Fountainhead, Miami, FL. Reames has exhibited in a number of galleries and institutions, including Elmhurst Museum of Art, Andrea Rosen Gallery, The Hole, Team Gallery, Josh Lilley Gallery, 356 Mission, Johannes Vogt Gallery, Galeria Annaruma, Andrew Rafacz, Bill Brady Gallery, Kwanhoon Gallery (Seoul) , Koenig Gallerie (Berlin), Dittrich & Schlechtriem (Berlin), Achenbach Hagemeier (Berlin), Museo di Capidomonte (Naples), and Anonymous Gallery (Mexico City). Josh Reames is represented by Luis de Jesus Los Angeles.
