Art seen: Dark imagescapes and dark suits

James Dignan takes a look at the latest exhibitions around Dunedin.

"A New Coat of Paint", Simon Clark (Milford Galleries)

Simon Clark uses dense layers of Kiwiana to create dark imagescapes in "A New Coat of Paint" at the Milford.

The works are built up in multiple thin layers of oils over a densely black surface, from which intensely bright subjects emerge, surrounded by a dimly-lit coterie of New Zealand icons.

The works are painstakingly and effectively constructed with thin veneers, allowing the central images to shine forth as though lit from behind.

The pieces speak of New Zealand past, the images as a whole being evocative analogies for the way our memories might pick one sharply defined item from our past among a host of half-forgotten memories which surround it.

The titles and the text, which forms an important part of many of the images, also present clues to cultural mores of the '50s and '60s, the "ladies a plate" culture which has receded into history.

These now obscure phrases allow viewers to interpret the works how they will, but the images root these fragments deeply into the Kiwi collective memory.

The paintings often show a wry humour, with punning titles and images, such as that of a child's doll marshalling traffic to allow birds to cross the road ... straight into a prepared trap.

"Paperworks VI" (The Artists Room)

A wealth of different works is on show in the Artist's Room's annual paperworks exhibition, with about 40 artists represented.

Style, subjects and media vary enormously among the works, from Greg Lewis' precise, gentle graphite portrait Ted, through Pip Trumic's flamboyant oil caricatures to the softly semi-industrial expressionist abstracts of Ro Bradshaw.

Many of the artists with works on display are well known to the Dunedin gallery-going public, with fine pieces by David Teata, Geoff Williams, Claire Beynon, Sam Foley and Pauline Bellamy among the mix.

No one work stands out among the others as the show's star, although if I had to pick one which dominates its surroundings, it might well be Michael Tuffery's colourful Tolu tui harakeke.

The good news is that many of the works by lesser-known artists are of a similar high quality to the works by the "names", and these include many delights.

Andrea Mae Miller's mixed-media work Untitled (Shag with fish) is one such piece, as are some fine pieces of portraiture by Stephen Martyn Welch, Hamish Allan's anatomical mixed-media images, and two poignant watercolour character studies by Arlene Bell.

"Night Garden", Michaela Cox (Temple Gallery)

Michaela Cox has created a bloom- and bird-filled night garden with her collages at the Temple.

Primarily a photographer, the artist has used collage and decoupage - the cutting-out of images and attaching them over a photographed background to create a three-dimensional whole - to produce intriguing dark works.

There are three groups of works on display: rectangular "night gardens", large laminated photographic composites, and a series of circular tableaux.

All use the motifs of birdlife and flowers, but with different effect and intention.

The rectangular works show off decoupage to its greatest extent, with living birds pictured among roses against dark, forested backdrops.

Decoupage is also key to the laminated works, though here it is at second hand, as the works are photographs of previously collaged originals.

In these "Flightcraft" pieces, the artist's graphic design skills have come to the fore, with a mix of real and artificial bird and flower images composed to good effect against the highly stylised backgrounds of flowery 19th-century wallpaper.

It is the small tableaux which intrigue the most, however.

Each is circular, and encircled by a gleaming etched mirrored frame.

Within this surround, the Christian crucifixion and resurrection have been juxtaposed with the same iconic flowers and birds to create impressive symbolism-heavy vanitas works.