Matthew Reynolds is a visual artist and educator based in the San Francisco Bay Area, working in photography, painting, printmaking, and mixed media.
Drawn to unexpected light, intense chromatic relationships, and deep shadows, Reynolds approaches photography as documenting fleeting instances when the ordinary reveals unexpected beauty and strangeness. Careful attention to composition, people caught mid-gesture, scenes transformed by color and chance alignment, his photos reveal the surreal qualities embedded in daily life.
Matthew's studio practice extends this investigation through paintings and mixed media works where intuition and planning take turns. Studied exploration of color dynamics meets deliberate layering, building visual depth while leaving the work's development visible. He's drawn to contradictions—gestural versus deliberate, simple versus complex, flat versus spatial—a constant wrestling where each mark or color shift reveals new relationships.
Reynolds' work has been exhibited nationally and internationally in galleries and museums, and is held in private and institutional collections, including the Hans Arp Print Studio in Locarno, Switzerland.
As an educator, Matthew has spent the majority of his three-decade career as a high school visual arts teacher. He has also served an artist in residence in a number of Bay Area public schools and taught at the university level. This sustained educational practice has produced award-winning curriculum and continues to inform his creative work.
​Education
Finding Your Vision workshop Alex Webb and Rebecca Norris Webb (5 day workshop, New York 2024)
San Francisco Street Photography 3-Day Workshop with Eric Kim (2015, 2016)
Single Subject Art Credential- Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA. 2006-2008
MFA in Painting- Bowling Green State University (BGSU), Bowling Green, Ohio. 1995-1998
BFA in Painting- East Carolina University, Greenville, N.C. 1989-1994
​
Selected One and Two Person Exhibitions
Couplings: Matthew Reynolds & Catherine Zweig. Morrison Gallery, Penn State University Harrisburg,
Harrisburg, PA. 2005.
Voids and Volumes. Lisa Coscino Gallery, Pacific Grove, CA 2003. (2-person exhibition)
Essential Elements. Tree House Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 2002. (solo exhibition)
Minimal Information. Ford Gallery, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI 2001. (solo exhibition)
Selected Group Exhibitions
Salon at the Triton. Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara CA 2023
Color Space: Contemporary Photography. Black Box Gallery, Portland, OR 2022
Studio Visit Magazine Volume 37 West Coast (print exhibition) 2017
Small Print International. Leicester Print Workshop. (Traveled to 6 venues in U.K. 2016-2017)
Salon at the Triton. Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara CA 2016
Think Again. Southern Exposure Gallery, San Francisco, CA 2001
Short Cuts. The Luggage Store Gallery, San Francisco, CA 2000
International Small Print Exhibition. Finalist Award, Florean Museum, Baia Mare, Romania, 2000
50th Annual Faculty Exhibition. Dorothy Uber Bryan Gallery, BGSU, Bowling Green, Ohio. 1999
89th Annual Toledo Area Artists Exhibition. Toledo Museum of Art,Toledo, Ohio. 1998
29th Annual Spring Exhibition. Second Place, Artspace/Lima, Lima, Ohio. 1998.
The Group Show. Spectrum Gallery, Toledo, Ohio. 1998.
Spectrum Gallery Spotlight Show. Medical College of Ohio, Toledo, Ohio. 1998.
Subtle Views: An Invitational Exhibition. Artspace/Lima, Lima, Ohio. 1998.
Subtle Body: MFA Thesis Exhibition. Dorothy Uber Bryan Gallery, BGSU, Bowling Green, Ohio. 1998.
Visions of the Soul. Artspace/Lima, Lima, Ohio. 1997.
West Coast Works on/of Paper ‘96. Honorable Mention, Ink People Gallery, Eureka, CA 1996.
Visions of the Spirit. Washington National Cathedral, Washington D.C. 1996.
Gallery Representation
Lisa Coscino Gallery- Pacific Grove, CA 2003-2005
Private Collections
Hans Arp Printing Studios, Locarno, Switzerland
Wilfrid Laurier University, Brantford, Ontario, Canada
​
​
