Formally trained as a graphic designer and working across mediums, Mitchell Reece uses painting to unlock and preserve memories of his past. His work has a spiritual quality: domestic scenes with solid black backgrounds and sometimes faceless figures grouped together in communion. The small and large-scale paintings are usually based on old photographs of relatives but are sometimes culled from his imagination.

Motivated by a desire to preserve his family's history, Reece possesses a deep sense of neighborhood pride that permeates his work. He was born in 1990 and came of age during the rise of Houston’s rap scene. As early as 7th grade, he was introduced to Swishahouse Records, the Acres Homes music label that birthed pioneering rap talent including Slim Thug, Mike Jones, and OG Ron C.

Reece’s creative spirit blossomed as a kid. Growing up, he was always in tune with his environment, looking and watching closely at the details of his everyday life. Education, creativity and innovation are in his blood; his grandmothers were teachers, his father was a draftsman who shared copies of Lowrider magazines and art books with him, and his grandfather designed spacecraft for NASA in the mid-1960s.

After graduating from Klein Forest High School and attending Prairie View A&M University, Reece found his footing in local art institutions like Contemporary Arts Museum Houston and the Menil Collection. In undergrad, he was mentored by artist and museum director Lauren Kelley and witnessed the emergence of the city’s most prominent visual artists, including Nathaniel Donnet, Jamal Cyrus, Robert Hodge, and Robert Pruitt.

In 2016, he moved to New York City marking the start of focused dedication to his practice.

He completed an MFA in Fine Art and Design at the School of Visual Arts, taught at Pratt Institute, and lived in Brooklyn. He was inspired by graffiti and street art and was immersed in a thriving community of artists. Now, he splits his time between Harlem and Houston, painting and teaching.

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