''New works & old works'', Martin Thompson (Brett McDowell Gallery)
Martin Thompson explores mathematical patterns in his passion for creating hypnotic grid structures. The works, while conforming to rigid numeric rules, become landscapes, their repetitive iterations reminiscent of the detailed non-pictorial structures of Islamic art and mosaic. It could be considered within the catch-all category of outsider art, in that it falls beyond the unusual strands and trends of the artistic mainstream, yet it is this uniqueness which makes it intriguing, and which is also bringing Thompson now to the attention of many overseas galleries.
It would not be unfair or unwarranted to describe Thompson as a savant; his obsession for pattern and for relationship between mathematical purity and aesthetic certainty is a driving one, so much so that his art is as much about the search for the perfect pen (all the works being painstakingly hand-drawn) as it is for the perfect design. In this exhibition, we get an overview of the development of Thompson's art, from the small early works on ordinary graph paper to his current large-scale pieces on custom-made backgrounds.
''New works'' (Milford Galleries)
Henderson's work continues her exploration of meticulous porcelain feather artefacts in individual oaken cases. The effect is of an antiquarian's display of historic relics. The works sit well alongside Mitchell and Thacker's ceramics. Mitchell's broad, welcoming vessels, rimmed in gold leaf and finished with gently crackled glaze have an elegance which hints at both Art Nouveau and Art Deco. Thacker's jug forms, with their strong depictions of natural and abstract scenes and thick warm glaze, invite the touch.
Dick Frizzell is represented by only one work, though its joyful Picasso-ised tiki is a welcome splash of colour. So too are the shiny surfaces of Zena Elliott, whose colourful semi-abstracts reinterpret traditional Maori design in a way that draws comparison with fellow Milford regulars Peata Larkin and Reuben Paterson. The stars of this show, however, are the ''Night Paintings'' of Michael Hight, in which elements of New Zealand rural life emerge in surreal juxtaposition from the depths of the canvas.
''No need for water'', Zina Swanson (Hocken Library)
The centre of the main gallery considers the gardener as alchemist, with laboratory-like siphon tubes entering the walls as if intravenously injecting the gallery with life. Around the gallery's walls are gentle watercolours, also evoking arcane experimentation - the reanimation of clover, the harnessing and drowning of air bubbles - which set the scene for the two major experiments of the end galleries.
In the gallery's northern wing, several plain pine stools sit before watercolour vistas drawn from the recollections of hypnotism subjects. The works reflect on the processes of the unconscious and our seeming role as observer viewing the facets of our own mind.
The exhibition's most important work, however, is in the opposing wing. In Dracaena screen, Swanson reflects on a 1960s experiment which hooked up plants to a lie-detector, and creates a zoo-like exhibit with the plant raised on a stately pedestal behind a protective yet fragile curtain.
