John Reynolds likes to rummage in reference books and celebrate what he finds there in paint. His book of choice here is the ‘Thames and Hudson Dictionary of Art Terms’. But where dictionaries impose order on art, Reynolds cheerfully disorders it. He takes terms out of the dictionary and brings them back into the material world, spreading them in silver across more than 1,650 canvases – from ‘abacus’ to ‘zeitgeist’, a mind-bending jumble sale. ‘Table of dynasties’ holds up an unexpected mirror to the Gallery's own collection – a place where ideas and images stack up in unexpected ways. (Brought to Light, November 2009)

Taking its title from a line in T. S. Eliot’s poem ‘The Waste Land’ (1922), the anatomical male figure and asterisk motif in John Reynolds’ delicate lithograph depicts an interpretation of two tarot cards: The Man with Three Staves and The Wheel. For Reynolds, the acts of drawing, writing and painting collide to create a generous sense of infinite possibilities. Often making reference in his work to Christian and pagan symbolism, Reynolds’ flickering strokes and delineations convey a range of emotional and visual complexities that tap into our sense of universality. John Reynolds received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Auckland in 1978 and held his first exhibition in 1980. Since then he has exhibited widely in solo and group exhibitions, including Headlands: Thinking Through New Zealand Art, Museum of Contemporary Art Sydney, 1992. In 1998 he won the Montana Lindauer Art Award and he has been shortlisted for the 2008 Walters Prize. He was also an Arts Foundation of New Zealand Laureate for 2006.