(Gallery De Novo)
Midwinter seems to be the season for group shows around Dunedin. Among them is an exhibition at De Novo featuring new works by a large number of the gallery’s stable of artists.
There are a lot of fine works on display here, with emphasis given by the gallery to some of their less-often seen artists. Among these are some delightful animal sculptures from Kylie Matheson, Ana Teofilo’s Pasifika-inspired mandala, an iridescent landscape by Juliet Best, some cheekily fun paintings by Gabby McKenzie and Nachiko Schollum’s intriguing portrait sculptures.
Among better-known names locally, it is good to see Jo St Baker returning to her favourite subject of St Clair Beach and Esplanade with a couple of fine works. Ewan McDougall presents a tongue-in-cheek interpretation of Manet’s classic Le Dejeuner sur l’Herbe, and Angel Burns gets into the swing of the season with two bleak and impressionistic winter landscapes. Frank Gordon presents some heart-warming paintings, and Simon Kaan makes a welcome return with his meditative woodprints.
The pieces are arranged nicely, with "accidental series" cleverly created by juxtaposing works with complementary elements. We move, for example, from St Baker’s coastal houses to Nic Dempster’s stylised angular pattern house forms, and then to the busy angles of Philip James Frost’s brutalist canvas.
(Otago Art Society)
The largest group exhibition currently in Dunedin is the Art Society’s 147th annual show. As always with such an exhibition, there is a huge range of styles, subjects and — to some extent — ability, although the vast majority of the works on display are impressive.
One surprising feature of this year’s exhibition is the relative lack of portraits and still lifes. Portraits in particular have long been a mainstay of art society shows, but this year landscapes dominate, whether they be realistic, as is the case with Sarah Freiburger’s two fine works, minimalist, such as the delineated forms of Nicola Jones’s scene, or stylised depictions like that by Julia McNaughton. Animal studies are also a common subject, with Mary Jane Sneyd’s warm textile pelicans and Kezia Armstrong’s remarkable kea close-up among them. Other works which I was repeatedly attracted to include pieces by Anne Barwood, Kate Drummond, a clever construction by Raimo Kuparinen, and an impressive portrait of Ralph Hotere by Tony Adamson.
Seven awards were given out at the exhibition’s opening, two of them going to Armstrong and Adamson. Other prizes went to Stacey Roughan’s monoprint work, a watercolour landscape by Tony Shields, acrylic works by Jennifer Belt, a delicate charcoal nude by Kirsten McAuley and a strong moody landscape by Hayden Williams.
(Dunedin Public Art Gallery)
"Look Out Loud" is the latest exhibition for children at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery.
The show is a cleverly selected series of both well-known and lesser-known works from the gallery’s collection, each of which can be read as if it contains a hidden back-story. Prompts are placed close to each work with the intended aim of inspiring the young viewers to create their own tales based on what they see.
Despite being targeted in this way, there is plenty for adults in this display. Experienced gallery visitors will see numerous old favourites, many of which have not been on public view for many years. Brent Wong’s Rebellion and Girolamo Nerli’s Aida fall into this category, as does Alvin Pankhurst’s iconic Maybe Tomorrow. Other works, which may be less well remembered, are also well worth viewing.
Care has been taken by the exhibition’s curators to provide a range of works in many different styles, from traditional Japanese prints to modern New Zealand works (such as those of Saskia Leek and Peter Peryer). Even when the temptation was there to show two works by the same artist — Mervyn Taylor — alongside each other, those pieces have been chosen to show the wide range of the artist’s abilities by pairing a highly complex wood engraving with a charmingly minimalist linocut.
By James Dignan
