Erin Driessen takes a look at the latest exhibitions around
Dunedin.
Kathryn Madill, New Paintings,
Inge Doesburg Studio and Gallery
Poetry is ever present in the work of Kathryn Madill, and her
exhibition of new paintings at Inge Doesburg Studio and
Gallery is a prime example.
Fourteen small works are painted in layers of thin oil
directly on to books; these are literally, painted stories.
Madill has a strong, ongoing interest in narrative, seen in
her previous work, which has included collaboration with
authors.
With these new paintings, she is author and illustrator.
Single motifs and the same human faces appear several times;
there is a sense of the intimate and personal.
These works would be just as beautiful on their own; however,
one senses they belong together.
Blue Mary 1 and 2 both show a female body with
face and feet obscured, painted in the middle of a two-page
open spread.
Words including roses, ruins, ashes and slashes run down
their torsos.
The Song of Love 1 and 2 show small figures,
one in a lit-up window, the other in a doorway.
They are surrounded by a forest of black and green grass
blades, some of which morph into tiny human bodies.
The title, The Valley, has been cut from a book and
glued on to the work; the artist's name is also glued on,
having been signed elsewhere.
These paintings are each their own piece of a longer,
intricate story.
Ann Robinson, "Celebrating the
Recession", Milford Gallery Dunedin
Ann Robinson's glass work is nationally and internationally
renowned.
The pieces which compose "Celebrating the Recession" at
Milford Gallery combine the trademarks of her previous work
to create a bright and beautiful, consummate exhibition of
new works in cast glass.
The title of the exhibition is both clearly Robinson's
humorous nudge at our recent economic times, and a guide to
understanding her work.
Clarity and elegant simplicity of form are synonymous with
Ann Robinson; here, she combines her treatment of shape with
a strong use of bold colour.
The golds, reds, blues, greens and browns are luminous and
seem to chime together within the white room.
Robinson's pieces are of New Zealand: Flax Vase, Nikau
and Scallop Bowl are perfectly at home, their forms
and colours directly taken from local flora and fauna.
Agathis sits in the corner, back-lit by the window.
Green edges and a deep-red middle mix to appear an earthy
brown in shadow, but against light, the vase, with its full
fern pattern, shines.
The leaf pattern appears several times across other pieces,
in spirals, triangles and parallel lines.
Landscape Bowl could very well be a thick chunk of
hillside excavated from Central Otago or Canterbury.
Its vessel shape invites us to cup it in both hands; to hold
a piece of the land.
Miguel Angel Rios,
"White Suit" and "On the Edge", Dunedin Public Art
Gallery
The Dunedin Public Art Gallery currently displays two video
installations by Argentinian artist Miguel Angel Rios, the
first showing of his work in New Zealand.
The action of White Suit begins as a man enters, lifts
two ropes with meat on each end, and begins to swing them as
he tap-dances.
Suddenly barking dogs enter the frame one by one until the
dancer is surrounded.
He continues to dance as the dogs become more and more
agitated, teased by the swinging flesh.
This work is extremely confronting as the sounds of tapping
shoes and barking dogs echo each other and escalate.
On the Edge consists of black and white spinning tops
which dance across two alternately black and white screens.
We see the tops, which never fall, from different angles and
distances.
Though the movements and paths of the spinning tops cannot be
fully anticipated or controlled, these scenes appear
performed and highly orchestrated: a result of Rios'
meticulous editing.
Though designed to be an overwhelming sonic and visual
experience that surrounds the viewer, On the Edge is
disrupted.
The gallery has used their available space as well as
possible; however, the surrounding noise from White
Suit and another artist's audio exhibition distracts from
the potentially fuller experience of this second video.
Still, Dunedin viewers are very lucky to have the chance to
see these unique works at our major gallery.
