Between Brick and Crimson is an exhibition of new paintings by painter, Anh Nguyen, an artist who in recent years has risen to prominence through her consistent participation in some of Australia’s most prestigious art prizes. Anh Nguyen is presenting her first major solo exhibition at Michael Reid Southern Highlands following a string of successful shows at Michael Reid Northern Beaches. Working closely with Director, Amber Creswell Bell, Nguyen has amassed audiences both locally and internationally. Her work has recently been published in Creswell Bell’s STILL LIFE (Thames and Hudson).

Anh Nguyen is a painter who possesses both skill and vision.  In her works, Nguyen compresses space to enhance the dynamic energy in her painted crowds and street scenes. Lively flickering brushstrokes and contrasting colours coalesce in a collection of still life, landscape and narrative paintings.

Between Brick and Crimson will exhibit at Michael Reid Southern Highlands until May 8th, 2022. Please join us for a mid exhibition soiree on the afternoon of Saturday April 30th, from 2 – 4 pm.

Currently exhibiting at the Southern Highlands are works from one of Australia’s most celebrated photographers, Tamara Dean. Flux assembles major works from Dean’s key series and will include works from her latest series High Jinks in the Hydrangeas. These recent works may be familiar to collectors from the Southern Highlands as High Jinks in the Hydrangeas was the inaugural exhibition held for the opening of Ngununggula, Retford Park Regional Gallery in late 2021.

Tamara Dean’s practice explores our connection to nature and rites of passage in contemporary life. Dean’s unique understanding of light and landscape reveal sensual pieces that invite the viewer to contemplate our existence within the environment.

Tamara Dean’s work has been acquired by the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra ACT; Parliament House Art Collection, Canberra ACT; Art Gallery of South Australia; Mordant Family Collection Australia; Artbank Australia; Balnaves Collection Australia; and Francis J. Greenburger Collection, New York.

Lucy Vader, alongside Melanie Waugh, opens the new Michael Reid Southern Highlands gallery with her inaugural exhibition Notes From My Travels. This most recent exhibition has been a triumph, with each painting surviving the recent catastrophic floods of Lismore. What we see in Lucy Vader is an artist who has incredible tenacity and has honed her exquisite painting skills with clear visual articulation. She has spent considerable time refining her visual language into one that manages to avoid any resemblance of streamlined landscape painting. Unsurprisingly for someone whose family has farmed for generations, Lucy Vader conveys a landscape that has been both seen and felt. She applies paint in thick, sumptuous layers blurring the boundary between abstraction and representation. Stand close to one of Vader’s works and her brushstrokes draw you into a richly textured world of deep colours – green, yellow, red and blue. Move away from the canvas and wide, grassy paddocks emerge, frequently populated by sheep – golden and camouflaged against parched yellow land, or with bright white fleeces that contrast with rain-restored grass.