Beguiling sense of intimacy conveyed by nine small works

Joanne Campbell reviews the latest exibitions by Michael Harrison and Catherine Garrett and the annual exhibition of the Otago Art Society.

Michael Harrison's exhibition at Brett McDowell Gallery consists of nine small paintings.

That they fill this relatively large space is testament to the talents of both artist and dealer.

These light, ethereal works convey a beguiling sense of intimacy.

Michael Harrison is a highly regarded artist who represented New Zealand at the Sydney Biennale in 2004.

He has developed his own personal iconography that draws on a wide range of influences.

Although he does employ human figures, the works on display here primarily feature animals.

The emotions they display, however, seem wholly human.

The influence of Rorschach inkblots can be seen in the mirroring of many images.

The animals generally look longingly at one another across the paper or are depicted close together, faces almost touching.

Most of Harrison's works have pencilled columns of dates on the back, some spanning almost a decade.

The dates are a record of the days Harrison spent working on each painting.

He carefully creates each painting using layers of a light wash, giving a sense of fluidity.

The subtle tonal modelling Harrison's medium and process allow is best appreciated in a work such as Castles Made Of Sand.

This painting features three cat figures in profile against a delicately rendered mountain range in the distance.

Of Harrison's many anthropomorphised figures, the cat on the lower right has the most human form, its head bent in contemplation on an almost upright body.

In Falling Again, Harrison seems to be quoting McCahon's series of paintings of waterfalls in which the graceful arc of water is transformed into a spiritual light.

In Harrison's work, a shaft of light bisects the dark background.

On either side, the figure of a cat appears in profile.

They look at one another across the waterfall, and at the bottom on the left, you can see a raised paw reaching across, breaching the barrier.

This rather romantic version of McCahon's spiritual metaphor also plays with language, in that while waterfalls fall, so do lovers.

Promise initially appears to depict two dogs looking across a cloudy blue sky at one another.

A second look reveals two human heads in profile in what seemed to be sky.

The gentle touch of their foreheads reveals a thoughtful private moment.

All of Harrison's works seem to highlight the importance of relationships and the desire for contact, both physical and emotional, or the loneliness of its absence.

• The Otago Art Society is holding its 132nd annual exhibition in its new and improved premises upstairs in the railway station.

The Art Society has a venerable history.

It was founded by William Hodgkins, father of the great Frances Hodgkins, in 1875.

The society's guest artist, Roy Dickison, former head of the Otago Polytechnic School of Art, has the distinction of having shown in these annual exhibitions since the 1930s.

Nine works by Dickison, including a self-portrait, are on display.

Dickison deftly conveys the drama of our southern skies in Sky Grandeur, Frankton and perhaps it is the choice of subject, but his Hot Gossip, Brittany seems reminiscent of the work of Sydney Lough Thompson.

In total, 143 works are on display by more than 80 artists.

First prize went to Josephine Regan, who captures the city bathed in delicate light.

The buildings, so close together they appear almost stacked on top of one another, dominate this large canvas. Gill Hammond, who won third prize with Light from Above, uses a palette knife to layer a wide range of colours, creating an interesting effect.

The streetlight, as the title suggests, dominates the composition and is framed by fragments of buildings on either side.

Another highlight is Ivan Hill's painting of the late Lindsay Crooks and his South Seas Gallery at Brighton.

• In "All that glistens", Catherine Garrett has drawn inspiration from the Central Otago landscape and its gold-mining past.

Garrett's palette reflects the colours we associate with the region.

Her work has a similar feel to that of Nic Dempster, another Gallery De Novo artist.

Garrett uses black outlines to define elements of the landscape and, in the case of the rivers, to provide an indication of movement.

Most of the works on display are acrylic on paper, and she manages to build up an appealing surface texture in these works.

In Shotover Ripple, Skippers Canyon Garrett works on corrugated iron, a material that has historical resonance but also adds dynamism to the piece.

The influence of stained glass and Clarice Cliff's ceramics from the 1920s and '30s is obvious.