Art Seen: April 20

This week, James Dignan examines works by Tony Cribb, Chris Charteris, and Paul Allen.


Monomoth and the Destiny of Light, by Tony Cribb.
Monomoth and the Destiny of Light, by Tony Cribb.
‘‘These Things Will Match Your Curtains. Unless They Don't'', Tony Cribb (The Artist's Room)

A new exhibition by Tony Cribb is always welcome, especially with his latest show, since for a while it seemed possible we would never see more new work from the whimsical painter.

Cribb has battled back from serious illness to present a display of surreal, cartoon-like musings on life. The artist is perhaps best known for his Tin Man images but this exhibition focuses largely on some of his other works, notably several large Conversations with Dog, dialogues between man and beast where communication is limited at best.

Cribb's health concerns are reflected in works such as the Try Again Tuesday images, in which the body is willing but the brain is clearly struggling.

Other images include two smile-inducing extreme close-ups of a penguin and an orca, lateral thought and compositional sense making these pieces a strange amalgam of McCahon and Gary Larson.

The Tin Man does make an appearance, with several small pieces interspersed among the display, and also with four experimental Tinny works, in which the Tin Man has clearly been experimenting with recreational medication.

The exhibition is largely summed up by the title of one work: Laughter is the Best Medicine. For the artist, that is clearly true, and for anyone feeling in need of a pick-me-up, a dose of Cribb's tonic will no doubt prove a fine panacea.

 


Onaianei, by Chris Charteris.
Onaianei, by Chris Charteris.
‘‘Forces of Land and Ocean'', Chris Charteris (Milford Galleries)

Chris Charteris is a sculptor whose work is firmly grounded in the geography of the land. He uses the natural resources of igneous rock and whalebone to produce sculptural forms which are redolent of a sense of place and speak of the Pacific history of New Zealand.

Charteris' cultural heritage has links both with New Zealand and Micronesia, and both these traditions find their form in the inscribed marks which the sculptor places on his forms.

The bare rock with which Charteris works has been left in a semi-natural state, sea-worn boulders alternatively polished and left rough to create a dynamic surface, and then deeply incised to allow the viewer to look into the heart of the stone.

Andesite has been sliced and inscribed, the severe rock lines and crystal-flecked surfaces given spiritual meaning with links from the lines of Polynesian map-making through to the stylised minimalism of Hotere.

The pieces formed from antique whalebone are equally attractive. Tea-stained ribs are bowed to form Hoeroa, traditional symbols of status which reflect not only the mana of the holder, but also the mana of the great beast from which the work was made.

Other whalebone items are both aesthetically pleasing and functional, a fragile-looking chair being both sturdy and elegant.

 


Ruth Parsons: Community Constable, by Paul Allen.
Ruth Parsons: Community Constable, by Paul Allen.
‘‘The People of South Dunedin'', Paul Allen, Ferg Campbell and Paul Le Comte (Community Gallery)

The Community Gallery is hosting a display by three local photographers, which is simultaneously an exhibition of their skills at monochrome portraiture and an ethnographic study of an Otago community.

‘‘The People of South Dunedin'' presents portrait studies of 34 locals, their images accompanied by brief notes from the lengthy interviews which were conducted by the photographers.

Paul Allen, Ferg Campbell, and Paul Le Comte have deliberately aimed for a ‘‘house style'', their three individual sets of skills blending into a seamless whole to produce a fine array of images.

The work is sharp and filled with character, and while semiformal, the images have a friendlier, more open feel than might be produced by strict sittings.

Part of this is no doubt the result of the rapport built up during the interview process, but much of it is down to the eye of the photographers, who have effectively framed their subjects in ways which reflect character or occupation - the Picasso-like pose of Grahame Sydney, the subtle prison-bar lighting behind Community Constable Ruth Parsons, the grimy chiaroscuro and intelligent eyes of Gasworks Museum director Ann Cronin.

These images of greater and lesser luminaries are destined to become part of the Settlers Museum's collection after this exhibition, providing a cross-section of early 21st-century Dunedin for posterity.

 


-By James Dignan

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