Brian Michael Reed (b. 1984) is an American multi-media artist, who draws creative
energy from the study of a wide variety of cultural experiences, global religions, and art
techniques. The artist was born in Charleston, West Virginia, and now practices
between Shanghai, New York City, and Ivydale, West Virginia. Brian implements a
conceptual practice of pictorial anthropology, giving voice through his works to broad
communities in a collaborative investigation of specific repeating symbolism and cultural
practices understood through regional immersion. 
The artist communicates these expressions in his practice through a wide variety of
mediums with emphasis on performance, sculpture, and works on paper. Additionally,
Reed is fond of sourcing found material in which he activates their spiritual energy. The
art reflects the cornucopia of customs, folklore, spirituality, and mythology with which
Reed has interacted throughout projects and studies.
Reed utilizes art to advocate for unity and foster international understanding. To date his
projects have encompassed regional immersions in China, Japan, Indonesia, the
Appalachian region of the United States, Mexico, and currently in Israel. The works
highlight common aspects of cultures to serve as a bridge between groups separated by
geographic and linguistic barriers. Reed elevates our shared humanity over political
divisions that exist through rhetoric, creating empathy for one another. The artist’s
practice embodies global themes of love, loss, tragedy, memory, death, and the
afterlife. 
Reed’s projects and solo shows have been met with acclaim and celebration from the
hyper-local to the macro-global levels: from international art cities such as New York
and Shanghai, to his hometown in rural West Virginia as well as the influential regional
collaborators in his practice. Reed’s work has been exhibited at and is collected by the
Museum of the Americas on the National Mall in Washington D.C., The Huntington
Museum of Art (West Virginia, United States), the Yuz Museum (Shanghai, China), the
Shanghai Himalayas Museum of Art (Shanghai, China), and the Hanshan Art Museum
(Suzhou, China). His work is reviewed favorably by the New York Times, Washington
Post, Global Times, Shanghai Daily, The Charleston Gazette-Mail, GQ Magazine, Arty,
and various other publications. Brian attended graduate work at Yale University in the
History of Art Department and undergraduate work in Painting and Art History at James
Madison University.