Art seen: September 11

“In Praise of Shadows V”, by Tara Douglas
“In Praise of Shadows V”, by Tara Douglas

''Au'', Tara Douglas and Murray Eskdale (Mint Gallery)

East Asia and culture shock are sources of inspiration for the two artists who are at present exhibiting at Mint Gallery.

Tara Douglas' low-key photographic portraits bathe their subjects in an eerie red, a colour reflected in the paper blooms which surround them.

The works are largely inspired by the clash between current trends in Japanese culture (epitomised by Hello Kitty cuteness and over-the-top fashion subcultures), and the country's traditional aesthetic for the meditative and ordered, and which sees beauty in simplicity.

The result is a series of images which hint at this cultural dissonance while providing striking visual statements of their own.

Murray Eskdale's photographic studies of the structures of Shanghai have captured the grids and patterns of the megacity, and in doing so has shown it simultaneously as anonymous and highly individualised.

Bullion, for example, shows the uniform layers of a giant impersonal skyscraper, but each room on each floor is shown in the photograph's high detail to be its own unique world, each one representative of its individual occupant.

Eskdale's last image is the wry Float, which appears to depict the whole city on the deck of a giant container ship, perhaps implying that the city's culture is for export, and could take root anywhere.


 

“Flock”, by Manu Berry
“Flock”, by Manu Berry

''Port Terns'', Manu Berry and David De Maus (Port Royale Cafe, Port Chalmers)

Manu Berry has produced an excellent series of dry-point etchings based on the works of notable early Otago personality David Alexander De Maus.

De Maus was a noted photographer and singer, and was mayor of Port Chalmers four times. His photographs provide vivid depictions of the port and its people between the 1870s and 1920s.

These images have inspired Manu Berry, whose studio was previously the workplace of De Maus.

In a way, the marriage of the old and new work is also an acknowledgement by Berry that he is now himself part of this community's art heritage.

Berry's exhibition (humbly listed as a joint exhibition with De Maus) uses the motif of the seabird, a fixed feature of a land where human settlement is continually changing.

As with Glover's famous poem The Magpies, humans are born, live, and die against a background of their seemingly constant nature.

As such, the exhibition's title becomes a pun; the port turns, yet the birds remain. 

Berry's prints are uniformly excellent, the toned blacks deliberately echoing old photographs.

Textural work is particularly fine in Samson at rest, its hard masts contrasted with delicate feathers against a swirling, toned sky.

Similarly effective are the grey-toned gradients of Flock, juxtaposed with the bold cross-hatching of the old hotel.


 

“Chaise Longue”, by Rudie Verhoef
“Chaise Longue”, by Rudie Verhoef

''New work'', Abbott/Verhoef (Koru Gallery)

There are few families in Dunedin which could between them organise group art exhibitions.

The Bellamy/Berry clan have done so; the Webbs and the Fersterer/Taylors might. A fourth group to prove that such an exhibition is possible is the Abbott/Verhoef family.

At Koru, Liz Abbott and Rudie Verhoef have been joined by Ruby Abbott Harris and Betty Abbott in a multimedia exhibition covering painting, pastels, photography, woodwork and felt clothing.

Despite the heterogeneity of the works they sit comfortably and cosily alongside each other, reflecting the harmonious mix of talents within a family.

Liz Abbott's paintings and pastels are perhaps best known, and effectively illustrate the light and geography of the land around the family's Blueskin Bay home.

Excellent conte work, such as Billowing clouds study, capture the strong crepuscular light in bold strokes and strong yellows and blacks.

Daughter Ruby is a future star; at 15, she has already won awards for her photography, and her nature studies in particular are very fine.

Betty Abbott's felted jackets are impressive, created with finesse and resplendent in eye-catching tones of cyan and cerise.

These sit above the sturdy yet individualistic furniture created from redwood by Liz's partner Rudie Verhoef, perhaps best exemplified by the largest work, an attractive chaise longue.

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