Art Seen

'Untitled', by Philip Trusttum

A wealth of large works by some of our finest artists is on display at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery. Amazingly, though, the works and their authorship are largely irrelevant. Despite featuring vaunted names such as McCahon, Albrecht and Mrkusich, the show's star is its presentation.

Rather than being simply two-dimensional objects on walls, the paintings are held within free-standing frames in the centre of the room.

On entering, viewers may feel slightly disoriented, as they face the backs of the pieces.

This allows an exceptional opportunity to reset and revise our expectations of art. Rather than simply seeing one-sided panels, we see the work behind the work and can grasp the artistic process as a whole. We see the play, but also the lighting riggers and the scene-changers in the wings.

The backs of the works tell their stories. The anonymous woman in Jeffrey Harris' work is revealed by the artist-scrawled word "Lorraine" on the back. The rear of Toss Woollaston's work is like the case of a well-travelled guitarist, covered in stickers hinting at journeys and exhibitions.

The display gives a fascinating insight into artistic and curatorial processes. It allows us a vital opportunity to rethink our relationship with art, simultaneously giving us another chance to see fine work by some fine artists.

'Bad men - now and then', by Barry Cleavin

The whimsy is absent from Barry Cleavin's latest exhibition, and the political undercurrent has risen to the fore.

The "bad men" of Cleavin's latest display are of three sorts: faces from police files, white-collar dodgy dealers, and dissidents seen as bad in the eyes of a repressive political system.

The faces stare from the walls, stark monochromatic mug shots (though not all in black on white), in groups separated by the medium in which they have been created. The exhibition includes pen sketches, etchings, digital prints and paintings, and in one series, fishing lures and hooks are added to the works to represent the tantalising danger of corporate crime and its perpetrators.

Several pieces have been distorted by anamorphic projection. The faces are squashed down as if burdened by the weighty atmosphere of guilt, the heads only recognisable when viewed from oblique angles. We are forced to take "sidelong glances" at the miscreants and their misdeeds. Other faces are presented starkly, as if they are clinical studies of a criminal phrenology.

These works are juxtaposed with the group of dissidents. We are thus forced to examine our views of crime, and invited to question when the state - and not the individual - is the real criminal.

'Goneburger', by Nick Eggleston

The Artist's Room's annual "Works on paper" exhibition has turned up a plethora of fine work, with almost 90 pieces filling the gallery. The scope and depth is impressive, with works in a variety of media, styles and subjects.

Portraiture is well-represented, with excellent close-up character studies by Tessa Barringer and Stephen Martyn Welch standing out. Geoff Williams' graphite nudes are as beautifully captured as ever, and Josh Kronfeld adds yet another talent to his list with two fine images.

Jacque Gilbert's haunting semi-abstract photographs are also worthy of mention. Animal portraits and studies are also present, notably Nick Eggleston's fine, humorous bull terriers and Jane Crisp's fantails.

Abstract works are largely absent, though Ruth Stanton-McLeod and Claire Beynon's mixed media works are notable. Still lifes are also rare, though bright flowers occupy several of the larger pieces, among them ebullient images by Zuna Wright and Angela Amritz. Cath Garrett's smaller flower works also add to the colour in the gallery.

Among the landscapes, Peter McLaren's sombre, evocative pieces and Inge Doesburg's haunting tree photographs move towards the abstract realm, whereas John Toomer's Central Otago details and Anna Reid's forceful monochrome print of Walter Peak bring the land into a sharp, solid focus.