DPAG celebrates 125 years

Chanelle Carrick takes a look at the latest exhibitions around Dunedin.

"Beloved: Works from the Dunedin Public Art Gallery" (Dunedin Public Art Gallery)
Dunedin's public gallery is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year, and the exhibition "Beloved" showcases many well-known pieces that have been acquired by the gallery since its beginnings.

Consisting of works in a range of media, this exhibition is a diverse sample of art from 14th-century Italy through to 21st-century New Zealand.

However, the historic and the contemporary are not presented chronologically in this exhibition.

Rather, works are grouped thematically, creating a fluid relationship between historic and contemporary styles and ideas that suggests an ongoing dialogue with the past.

The ramp leading down into the main gallery is flanked by New Zealand artist Michael Parekowhai's The Bosom of Abraham (1999).

In this work, seven pairs of light boxes decorated with red, black and white Maori motifs face each other to form a corridor of softly glowing light, framing and directing the viewer towards the large slender cross of Colin McCahon's The Five Wounds of Christ, No 3 (1977-1978).

This placement serves to establish McCahon as a prominent figure in New Zealand's art history.

It also, however, creates a transcendent and spiritual experience as the pathway along Parekowhai's panels takes on a ritualised form, leading not only to images of religiosity but more generally to the significant and greatly treasured collection of the gallery.

Two such treasures are the framed wings from an altarpiece by 14th-century Italian artist Jacopo Del Casentino.

Depicting various Christian scenes in a stylised Byzantine manner, these panels instantly evoke a sense of reverence and preciousness.

Covered in thin goldleaf, they appear jewel-like, with details such as the appearance of the stigmata on Francis of Assisi glowing with an intensity that reinforces the devotional nature of the altarpiece itself.

Further into the gallery is Petrus van der Velden's painting A Waterfall in the Otira Gorge (1891), a well-known romantic New Zealand landscape.

In this expansive work, van der Velden's turbulent river rushes down to meet the viewer, enveloping them in a sense of the force and power of nature.

Of the works by contemporary New Zealand artists held in the collection, Reuben Paterson's Where the Sun Rises and the Shadows Flee (2005) is one of the most captivating.

Stretching across an entire wall, the work consists of a tropical sunrise scene made of individual metallic disks that shimmer and flash in a gentle breeze.

This work is mesmerising in its simplicity, and creates a calming awareness of the possibilities in every new day.

Exhibition (Stuart St Potter's Co-operative)
With many other galleries yet to open their 2010 programmes, now is a great time to explore the Potter's Co-operative gallery on Stuart St, as there is always an engaging range of work on display.

Nicola Kolig's current work is informed by New Zealand's bird life.

One series of figurines consists of various-sized kiwis, the largest of which is around 20cm tall.

Kolig uses glazes in a range of soft earthy browns to give the bodies of her birds a textured, feather-like appearance.

Dawn Palmer's ceramics are also influenced by the natural world, but rather than birds, she focuses on the form of shells.

Her small and delicate sculptures have a unique shape that suggests both the graceful curve of the shell itself but also the movement and arc of rolling waves.

While the exterior of her shells is grainy and rough, the interior reveals smooth and glossy pools of rich blues and greens, making them both beautiful and tactile.

Similarly, Peter Gregory uses a range of glazes to create stunning effects on the interior surfaces of his bowls and jugs.

Combining function and form, Gregory's work often contains splashes of creamy white, pale ochre and violet that swirl together, resembling celestial phenomena.