Geary Contemporary is pleased to present Seven Summers, a solo exhibition of recent oil and watercolor paintings by Reeve Schley, on view December 14, 2017 – January 27, 2018. This is Schley’s first exhibition with the gallery.

Schley is well known for his ephemeral, plein air oil and watercolor paintings, which capture moments of serenity in nature, amongst friends. Picnics and sunbathers are common themes, as are beach and riverside landscapes.

Schley begins with observations about the fundamental elements of a subject, allowing those toevolve and meld with his own imagined imagery. Working with a limited palette, Schley allows colors to flow and accumulate, offering a somewhat fragmented explanation of what he sees. He focuses attention on the subject(s) that initially drew him into the painting, whether that is how horizontal lines intersect the vertical, the manner in which shapes and forms come together to build a composition, or the particulars of clothing or stance. He weeds out extraneous information to get to the heart of what he sees, leaving space for viewers to fill with their own experience.

Reeve Schley was born in New York City in 1936. He received a BA from Yale University, an MFA from the University of Pennsylvania, studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts with Francis Speight and Franklin Watkins, and studied in Munich with Josef Buchty. Recent exhibitions include Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts; Brooklyn Museum of Art; New Jersey State Museum; and Drew University, NJ. His work is included in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Newark Museum of Art; Brooklyn Museum of Art; Yale University; New Jersey State Museum; and the National Academy, where he was the recipient of the Schweitzer Prize. Schley lives and works on his farm in Whitehouse, NJ.