
Born in Jacksonville, North Carolina 1987
Lives and works in Brooklyn, New York

The expressive and abbreviated figures that dominate the ambitious canvases of Reginald Sylvester II’s earlier works appear in flashes in the epic gestural abstractions that constitute his latest work. Recognizable flickers emerge and rescind into the thicket of brushwork: was that an extended limb, a profile, a torso twisting back on itself? The frenetic energy conveyed through these glimpses of what may be human forms recalls the orgiastic sensibility of Elaine de Kooning’s Bacchus paintings as well as the dynamism of Joan Mitchell’s enveloping abstractions. Sylvester thereby stakes his place in a history of abstraction that is unconcerned with toeing a line of formal purity and unwilling to foreswear completely the figurative vocabulary from which these gestures evolve.

Sylvester’s works are informed by a range of experience within diverse visual economies that belies his young age. His sensibility draws from the media savvy gained from his time as a graphic designer, from a close knowledge of contemporary fashion, and from his historical grounding in Abstract Expressionist practices. Sylvester conceptualizes painting as a matter of finding, rather than spontaneously generating images, a practice rooted in Willem de Kooning’s philosophy of painting as well as broader theological traditions. Biblical wisdom compels faith in the unseen with the promise that our passage from material to ethereal states will manifest as knowledge beyond mortal comprehension. Yet Sylvester’s seeking through abstraction is rooted in social realities as well as spiritual practice. As images of victims of racist violence cycle through our media landscape with numbing regularity, refusing to figure the black body within exploitative systems of vision can constitute a radical act in itself.

Beneath the vital, interdependent marks that pulse through the surfaces of Sylvester’s canvases lie strata of overpainting, each image containing volumes of its own history that the viewer will never completely know. This undergirding of formal experimentation and art historical discernment lends to each work its own particular grace.

In 2022, Sylvester will mount his first solo institutional presentation in an American museum in his hometown of North Carolina at the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts+Culture. Sylvester’s work is held in public collections including the ICA Miami, Fl; Wolverhampton Art Gallery, Wolverhampton, UK; Spazio 1, Lugano, Switzerland; and Fondazione Stelline, Milan, Italy. His work will be featured in a forthcoming survey of contemporary art published by Phaidon, due for release in spring 2022. Recent solo exhibitions include 

, Maximillian William, London (2019); and 


GRAPHIC DESIGN AT THE ACADEMY OF ART, UNIVERSITY OF SAN FRANCISCO




PAINTER’S REFUGE: A WAY OF LIFE, HARVEY B. GANTT CENTER FOR AFRICAN-AMERICAN ARTS+CULTURE, CHARLOTTE, NC



WITH THE END IN MIND, MAXIMILLIAN WILLIAM, LONDON



REGINALD SYLVESTER II: NEW PAINTINGS, JAMES FUENTES, NEW YORK, NY



REACHING FOR HEAVEN | PACE PRINTS | NEW YORK, NY



IN SEARCH OF A WONDERFUL PLACE | PRESENTED BY MAXIMILLIAN WILLIAM | NEW YORK, NY
A GENERATION SO BRIGHT | PRESENTED BY MAXIMILLIAN WILLIAM, GINZA, TOKYO




I CARE BECAUSE YOU DO CURATED BY MATT BLACK, THE MASS, TOKYO, JAPAN MODAL PAINTING CURATED BY OSCAR WOLLHEIM, MAXIMILLIAN WILLIAM, LONDON



CHAIRS BEYOND RIGHT AND WRONG | R & COMPANY | CURATED BY RAQUEL CAYRE | NEW YORK, NY



PUNCH | JEFFREY DEITCH | CURATED BY NINA CHANEL ABNEY | NEW YORK, NY



SURFACE ISSUES | LEILA HELLER GALLERY | DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES




ACKLAND ART MUSEUM, NC
FONDAZIONE STELLINE, MILAN, ITALY
ICA MIAMI, FL
LUGANO ARTE E CULTURA, LUGANO, SWITZERLAND
WOLVERHAMPTON ART GALLERY, WOLVERHAMPTON, UK



Prime: Art's Next Generation, with a text by Chris Fite-Wassilak, London: Phaidon,

With the End in Mind, with a text by Allie Biswas, London and New York: InOtherWords, Maximillian William and Natchez,

NEMESIS, with a text by Michele Robecchi, London: Maximillian William,

The Eve Of, with a text by Michele Robecchi, London: Maximillian William,

In Search of a Wonderful Place, London: Maximilian William,

Flo Wales Bonner, ‘A Collaboration Among Friends’, New York Times, October

‘Reginald Sylvester II and Allie Biswas in conversation,’ Maximillian William, August

Ifeanyi Awachie, ‘With the End in Mind by Reginald Sylvester II at Maximillian William, London,’ Lucy Writers Platform, August

Amarie Gipson, ‘Reginald Sylvester II,’ Plaster No. 4, July ‘In the studio with… Reginald Sylvester II,’ Apollo, June Veronica Simpson, ‘Modal Painting Reviewed,’ Studio International, April

‘Reginald Sylvester II, Ben Bowling and Oscar Wollheim in conversation,’ Maximillian William, March

‘Reginald Sylvester II and Legacy Russell in conversation,’ Maximillian William, July ‘Artist Reginald Sylvester II Reflects on the Evolving Meaning of Space,’ Goode, July

Eric Mack, ‘The Seriousness of The Soul: Reginald Sylvester II,’ Office Magazine, October

Gabrielle Leung, ‘Reginald Sylvester II Displays Chair Inspired By His Mom at NYC’s R & Company,’ Hypebeast, September

Roberta Smith, ‘Four Knockout Group Shows to See Now,’ The New York Times, October

Antwaun Sargent, ‘See Why Artist Reginald Sylvester II Is Garnering Critical Raves,’ Galerie, September

Anya Firestone, ‘Figuring Art Out: Reginald Sylvester II,’ Highsnobiety Magazine Issue 16, May

Maria Brito, ‘To See A Premonition: Reginald Sylvester II At Lever House,’ The Huffington Post, March

Matthew Whitehouse, ‘Reginald Sylvester II Makes Mega Poignant Art Inspired By Dreams And Scripture,’ i-D Magazine, November

Gyasi Williams Kirtley, ‘A Deciphering Of Reginald Sylvester II,’ VSCO Sebastian Jean,

‘Reginald Sylvester II’s Unconscious Place,’ Office Magazine, October

Michael Wilson, ‘Reginald Sylvester II Paints With Purpose In A New Show At Lever House,’ Garage, October

Alex Pettyfer, ‘Progression Of An Artist: Reginald Sylvester II’ V MAN, September