‘‘Creatures'', Group Show (Gallery Thirty Three, Wanaka)
From native birds to exotic predators to iconic Kiwi lollies, it's a case of ‘‘all creatures great and small'' at Wanaka's Gallery Thirty Three this month.
All manner of winged, scaled and four-legged beings have taken pride of place on the walls and pedestals, and it's an impressive menagerie.
Or perhaps ‘‘aviary'' would be a more appropriate term, as the birds tend to dominate the pack, led most visibly by Hamish Jones' bright and beautiful Parrot - Red and Parrot - Blue.
The primary colours and simple lines of the fibreglass and wood sculptures lend an appealing, artless whimsicality.
The playful humour of the Parrots, Nick Eggleston's rock-and-roll watercolour Day of the Dog and Julie Ross' sassy bronze sculpture The Challenge act as an effective foil for the more enigmatic complexity of Elizabeth Moyle's Release, from which the pensive faces of woman and bird emerge through an abstract wash and patchwork of colour.
Farm animals get a look in with Ross' Collie Hills 469, a ceramic portrait of an apparently dozing sheep, utterly unperturbed by the scene around her, and the household pet is represented by Melissa Young's cheeky bronze Cats.
Teenage artist Alice Toomer continues to display ageless technique and confidence, depicting the transparency and reflective qualities of glass with strokes of opaque acrylic paint, and injecting both nostalgia and laughter into the exhibition with her simply titled and highly edible-looking Snakes.
‘‘Susurrus'', Nigel Wilson (Hullabaloo Art Space, Cromwell)
When spoken, the word susurrus sounds like its meaning - a soft, rustling whisper or murmur - and is perfectly applicable to the work of artist Nigel Wilson.
The visible daubs and strokes of his abstracted landscapes create a blurred, softened effect that somehow communicates quietly with all of the senses.
The works convey absolutely the impression of a season, managing to suggest the movement of branches in the wind, the shifting planes and shadows of changing light, the colours and textures of an autumnal orchard, even, illusively, the scents and sounds, as if leaves are rustling in the breeze.
The energy of Below Timber Line is almost frenetic, the strokes and splashes of red, orange and yellow appearing shorter and faster, and it's like standing amidst the trees, squinting into a fierce wind as the surrounding landscape is tossed about by the elements.
Orchard Boulevard is contrastingly serene, the palette leaning more toward warm browns and golds, and the picture plane appearing to be dappled with late sunlight.
This is a landscape where you could sit and watch the shadows grow beneath the trees, while, nearby, the bare branches and golden ground of the titular Susurrus suggest the end of the season, the final fall of leaves before winter.
‘‘A Muster of Artists'', group show (Central Stories Museum and Art Gallery, Alexandra)
Central Stories' ‘‘A Muster of Artists'', brings together some of the best artists in Central Otago and this sampler of their styles is not to be missed.
The works have been carefully selected, highlighting the particular strengths of their own creator while also ingeniously complementing their neighbours.
The rustic, earthy beauty of Gail de Jong's landscapes and weathered barrel lids, the Star of the East Mine and Carricktown, seem to be relics as well as a representation of history, as if they carry the dust and grit of the goldrush days within their surface.
Her art brings to vivid life an era that now exists only in the written word and in the lingering legacy of the excavated landscape.
Sheena Lassen's Evening Shadows Lindis #1 and Central Otago Landscape catch the eye with the crisp clarity of their photographic realism, while Janyne Fletcher's compelling actual photograph, Cavalcade, invests a scene of rural life with the flavour of a historical battle.
Alan Waters provides his usual, very welcome shot of humour and surrealism with tricky, clever pieces like Box of Clouds and Metamorphosis.
The striking composition of Lynley Brownridge's flower paintings creates a sense of pathos and drama from a seemingly straightforward subject.
Her petals are almost corporeal, the layers and folds of Pavlova and Sunrise having an intricate origami effect, and the surface of Rosy Glow appearing velvety to the touch.
-by Laura Elliott
