In this week's Art Seen, James Dignan looks at exhibitions from Maurie Angelo, the Otago Art Society, and Frances Hodgkins.
Mt Rainier, by Maurie Angelo
‘‘Angelo’’, Maurie Angelo (Gallery on Blueskin)
A family reunion to commemorate the tercentenary of an ancestral birth has been the catalyst for a display of recent and earlier work by artist Maurie Angelo.
The master painter is a descendant of a fencing master, Domenico Angelo Tramamondo, who was born 300 years ago this month.
Given the now discarded ancestral surname, it is fitting that the earth seems to tremble in Angelo's paintings. The works tell stories of place through abstraction, vibrant colour, and forceful use of texture.
Although the exhibition forms a retrospective, the works are deliberately undated, making it impossible to trace the line of the work chronologically.
Instead, the locations in which the works were created is listed alongside the pieces, giving the paintings a geographical perspective.
The colours and textures therefore become representative of place, and the locations become an insight into the artist's thoughts.
The hefty igneous blues and pinks of Mt Etna I and the soft, watery images inspired by Seattle's Puget Sound make perfect sense in this framework.
Angelo's masterful use of his techniques allows him to effectively mix styles that might not seem natural bedfellows, notably in works such as The Disgusted Long White Cloud, where a violent thrust of gestural abstraction breaks the calm of the background's Rothko-esque colour fields.
The Exit, by Martin Platt
‘‘Otago Art Society Summer Exhibition’’ (The Art Station)
The Otago Art Society's summer exhibition throws up an excellent cross section of art in the south. Over 80 artists have pieces on display, making for a colourful assortment of disparate styles, subjects, and techniques.
Not all works on display will appeal to all viewers, but there is certainly plenty to catch the eye. Landscapes are prominent, with fine examples including mixed-media work by Cath McLean, and pieces by Raimo Kuparinen, Gillian Pope, and Jayne Tui Schwenke.
Few human portraits are presented, though Martin Platt's wonderful The Exit stands out, but there are several fine animal portraits and studies; notably Diane Souness's well-composed group of elephants, Sarah Freiburger's stylised blue penguin image, and bird studies by Claire Te Au and Fiona Gould.
Other fine works include Brian Stewart's hypnotic study of water ripples, and Karen Davis's evocative coastal watercolour. There are few three-dimensional works, but they are all of high standard, notably Robyn Douglas's fine glasswork, startling dragon's-head trophies by Brenda Nyhof, and Kylie Matheson's humorous ceramic hares.
Competition judge Jenna Packer, chose Anne Baldock's compelling group portrait Leith Street Flatters for the top award. A boldly painted harbour scene by Russell Cundall and Desiree De Launey's study of windblown cabbage trees were second and third prize winners.
Spanish Still Life and Landscape, by Frances Hodgkins
‘‘Open Air Still Life’’, (Dunedin Public Art Gallery)
The latest exhibition in Dunedin Public Art Gallery's Frances Hodgkins gallery is an intriguing juxtaposition of works by the New Zealand master and works by both her contemporaries and more recent artists.
The exhibition takes as its starting point Hodgkins' innovative expansion of the still life, placing its usual subject matter in outdoor surroundings and, as the exhibition's title suggests, painting them en plein air, using ever-changing natural light. Several fine Hodgkins works are presented, perhaps the most striking of which is Spanish Still Life and Landscape.
From here, the exhibition examines other innovations and innovators in the genre, ranging from Vanessa Bell's delicate yet striking lithographs through to the highly coloured and heavily stylised Jug by the Sea, by Imogen Taylor.
Two of the more intriguing series of works on display are three untitled works by Saskia Leek which defy the boundaries of the picture frame, and a thought-provoking yet humorous group of ceramic fruit by Erica van Zon which, ironically, are deliberately portrayed flatter than any canvas.
The inspiration of Hodgkins can perhaps most clearly be seen in the boldly painted acrylics of Joanna Margaret Paul, and in Ronald Grierson's intriguing Still Life with Shell, which somehow manages to combine the influences of Hodgkins and of metaphysical artists such as Giorgio de Chirico.
