Art Seen: April 6

Camp, April suite #3, by John Z. Robinson.

In ‘‘War and Other Paintings'', John Z. Robinson pays homage to the efforts of the New Zealand soldiers at Gallipoli, and more generally to the tragic futility of war.

The works fall into four groups, three of them linked by the theme of World War 1. The sombre nature of these pieces is partially offset by four vivid images representing the four seasons.

These paintings, along with one of the three war series, ‘‘Battle Plans'', are bold, bright acrylics depicting their subject matter in impressionistic forms - in the case of the ‘‘Battle Plans'' works reduced to a near abstraction reflecting the markings on maps.

The remaining war pieces are more sombre. A small series of monotype and linocut prints is effective, especially the skeleton-like white figures of Anzac soldiers looming from a bare black background.

The remaining series, the largest in the exhibition, consists of pencil and acrylic images which provide sketches of life in the arid war zone. In several of these, soldiers are placed incongruously against the forms of giant daisies.

The effect is poignant, and the symbolism is multilayered, reminding us that the flower of youth was taken in battle, and that even from death life emerges. Simultaneously, the flowers used as symbols by anti-war protesters later in the century is brought to mind.

Absent Referent 4, by Michael Greaves.

Michael Greaves tries to answer some heady philosophical ‘‘Questions for the Universe'' in his exhibition of that title at the Inge Doesburg Gallery.

The oil-on-linen paintings are ostensibly abstract, but each is inspired by the essence of an object (predominantly a simple cardboard box) in a way that attempts to grasp some form of existential and epistemological understanding of the work.

The act of naming objects allows humans to pigeonhole our thoughts about them, our understanding of aspects of their nature being suddenly constrained in our perception by their definition. But which comes first, the existence or the essence?

Greaves attempts to reset our perceptions by painting a box that has been stripped of all its material nature. All that remains is the ‘‘absent referent'' - the paintings are of a memory of a box. Are these now still paintings of a box?

The question moves one step beyond Magritte's famous statement that a painting of a pipe is not a pipe: Ceci n'est pas une boite.

Whether the artist has been entirely successful in his philosophical musings is for the viewer to determine.

Even if the point is moot, it has led Greaves to some intriguing explorations of abstraction that provide some interesting food for thought.‘

Yellow-Eyed Penguins, by Julia McNaughton.

The Community Gallery is showing what is becoming a tradition - the ‘‘Art in April'' show, put on by a group of 16 artistic friends from around the Dunedin area.

The artists first became acquainted with each other while taking part in adult art education classes, and have been exhibiting annually in April for several years.

As might be expected with a large group of artists and a collection of more than 60 works, there is a diverse range of styles, media, and subject matter. Acrylics are the most common medium, although there are oils, collage, and a variety of different printing techniques on display in the exhibition.

Work ranges from Rob Seeley's flamboyant abstract series to Diane Warren's austere yet compelling still-life painting of a glass vase, and from fine etchings by Julia McNaughton to Naomi Wadsworth's impressive oil portraits.

Many other works stand out, among them Heather Dunckley's impressive wood and linocuts, Judy Smith's impressionistic After the Rain, and a large work by Irina Schreiber inspired by Russian religious icons.

Judy Wilson's study of boulders, Mitchell's Rocks, effectively captures light and water on stone, and Maya Tate-Manning's brightly-hued kitchen still-lifes add a welcome dash of vivid colour to the display.

-By James Dignan