Exaltation

Among the most adored and in-demand artists in the Michael Reid stable, Lucy Vader returns for her first solo exhibition at our Eora/Sydney gallery in four years.

A stunning suite of paintings that visually thread together to read as one continuous installation, Exaltation arrives after several successful presentations across our network – including at the most recent Sydney Contemporary – and will be celebrated with an opening reception on Thursday, 14 March.

A true iconoclast of pastoral painting, Vader’s deeply saturated scenes burst with energy, exuberance and vibrant undulations of paint, appearing as though they might momentarily break open to roiling undercurrents of pure colour that flow freely from one canvas to the next.

Reflecting her deep and enduring affinity for rural life, the artist imbues these bucolic pictures with dynamism and movement, evoking the landscape’s natural rhythms. As birds take flight against radiant skies and tumbling clouds, farm animals graze along rolling paddocks below.

Having moved to the Northern Rivers of NSW following the devastation of the 2022 floods, Vader’s visions of thick clouds bursting across heavenly skies read in Exaltation as an artist reaching for the sublime, while nodding to the resilience, grit and steely determination required to live and work in the country.

Private previews are currently being conducted at our Sydney Gallery ahead of the exhibition. To make an appointment, or to request a digital preview, please email danielsoma@michaelreid.com.au