Michael Reeder paints murals. He paints on canvas too, but he’s most recognized for his large-scale wall pieces—hollow-eyed portraits that stare right into your soul as if to say: “Who the hell are you?” It’s a theme that plays out both in Reeder’s art and perhaps the Red Hook Crit itself.
The concept of identity is explored in much of Reeder’s work, and questioning identity is something anyone who’s ever raced a crit can relate to. In the heat of battle, screaming into a corner at full speed with no brakes, you’d be forgiven for finding yourself in a moment of quiet contemplation. “Who am I? A hero? A soloist? A fool? All of the above?” In that moment, only you can find your answer.
With a fresh frame for a canvas and the artist’s agenda—which, by design, no one knows—we present Reeder’s take on the collision between high-speed race machine and high-concept art piece. It’s fresh and "whoa, deep" on the interpretation scale, but above all, it's an absolutely stunning interpretation of the art-bike challenge.