A recent glimpse at a painting in a group show caused us to do a double take. “Cool,” we thought, “a new Jonathan Weiner painting.” Turns out it wasn’t new work from Weiner (a.k.a Viner), but rather, a painting by a guy named Joey Remmers. Remmers has a similar style to Weiner, and we were particularly struck by the similarities in both artists’ palettes, stark landscapes and subjects, particularly the trees, guns and birds.

Here’s a painting by Remmers titled “Fruitless Search.”

And here is “Full Quiver” from Weiner.

Notice the similarities in the details of the trees in both pieces, particularly their diameters and dark bands of color. Also notice the cloudy skies and misshapen heads on the subjects of each painting.

Here we see Weiner’s “Omnivore,” which features a dark-haired woman in a short dress with trim on the bottom and a white goose.

Here is a painting by Remmers called “A Peculiar Situation” featuring a dark-haired woman in a short dress with trim on the bottom and a white goose.

And here are two more, both of which feature ground level, upward-looking scenes of shaggy-haired men on their knees. The mood of the two paintings is decidedly similar. The first is by Remmers. The second by Viner.

In other art forms, music for example, these kinds of similarities are more common. Think of the band Bush in the wake of Nirvana, the tons of soundalike bands after the first album from The Strokes, and the three generations of power-pop bands that have aped the Beatles.

But in fine art, the similarities feel more jarring for some reason. In this case, we’re not sure who’s influencing whom, but the two artists seem awfully similar — too similar to simply write off as coincidental. We were aware of Viner’s work first, and to our eyes, he is the superior painter (who’s work we’ve written about before), but what do we know? We’re just a dumb pop culture website after all. The marketplace will ultimately decide, and Remmers seems to be making a name for himself in the art world as well.

But do some further investigation on your own. You can see Jonathan Weiner’s paintings here. And Remmers’ site is here. And feel free to list your preference in the comments.

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