New Arrangements is the latest series of still-life paintings by Jane Reynolds and her first to be exhibited at Michael Reid Sydney.

Striking a fine balance of playfulness and precision, Reynolds is celebrated for her artfully constructed clusters of domestic objects interspersed with angular prisms, which she renders with meticulous, hyperreal detail while drawing out the dynamism of their intersecting forms.

These graphic, shapely compositions veer towards poppy abstraction while remaining in the tangible realm of still life. A masterly approach to light and colour sees her optically charged arrangements transcend realism to conjure an illusory, almost dreamlike mood.

With New Arrangements, Reynolds introduces fruit and soft, draped elements to her compositions, bringing an organic flourish that sits in elegant counterpoise with her hard-edged constructivist forms.

For an artist who has previously shown an affinity for mid-century architecture, this new series suggests an embrace of 1980s Memphis design with its strong geometry and graphic stripes – albeit tempered by a softer, autumnal palette of auburn, salmon, peach and ecru that reveals her skill and originality as a colourist.

Following her immensely successful shows at Michael Reid Murrurundi and Sydney Contemporary 2022, New Arrangements now marks a major breakthrough for Jane Reynolds.

The exhibition opens in the upstairs space at our Eora/Sydney gallery on Friday, 6 October. Works from the series can now be viewed online and acquired by contacting danielsoma@michaelreid.com.au

Painting Now spotlights six painters leading the charge in reshaping and redefining art’s most storied medium, breaking it open to bold new possibilities in pursuit of visually arresting, technically dazzling, conceptually driven practice.

In identifying these artists and bringing them together in a vibrantly curated show, Michael Reid Galleries seeks to amplify the most innovative voices in the contemporary painting field, giving collectors the opportunity to discover and acquire their work at its pivotal point of entry to the upper reaches of collectibility and demand.

Spanning a diverse array of painterly approaches, modes of expression and areas of critical inquiry, Painting Now finds six established practitioners at a moment of creative breakthrough. Operating at the cutting edge of their medium, these artists bring technical mastery, formal innovation and a zest for pushing the boundaries of what painting can be.

For more information, please contact dean@michaelreid.com.au

Megan Hales is an Eora/Sydney-based artist who has refined her extraordinary skills over ten years as a painter, muralist and fabricator. Exploring the ever tightening nexus between natural and human environments, Megan’s paintings are inspired by everyday chaos, presenting moments where nature intrudes on familiar urban scenarios. With an incredibly detailed hyper-realist approach – infused with hints of the carnivalesque and nods to Australian New Wave films – her cinematic paintings are thrilling to experience. The artist has exhibited in group shows in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth and was a finalist in The Darling Prize, The Blake Prize and Montalto Sculpture Prize. Most recently she was selected for the Art Incubator program, which will culminate with a major exhibition at Michael Reid Sydney.

For more information about works of art by Megan Hales, please email dean@michaelreid.com.au