Art seen: Extensive look at the Gold Rush

Julie Jopp takes a look at some of the latest exhibitions from around Dunedin.

The City Hotel Goldrush Panels", Russell Clark (Central Stories Museum and Art Gallery, Alexandra)

Upon entering the gallery, the viewer is overwhelmed by the number of panels painted that wittily record the 1860s gold rush to Central Otago.

The 28-panel mural was painted in 1962 by the late Russell Clark, who was known for his work as an official war artist and an illustrator for the New Zealand School Journal and the Listener.

The panels were commissioned by Dunedin's City Hotel for the pleasure of its patrons and are exhibited in sequence as hung in the hotel.

They feature scenes of Dunedin, Gabriel's Gully, Chinese miners, harsh climates, gold robberies and more.

There are no descriptions or explanations by the artist and characters and themes running through the panels are represented in caricature.

Executed by airbrush and stencil, the decorative and humorous groups of figures represent people of many different countries, all scrambling for the rewards of the goldfields.

The irregularly-shaped panels follow the adventures of a Scotsman and his faithful dog, recording the changing landscape and seasons, the disappointments and joys, as they make their way through the rugged and harsh landscape.

The original goldrush panels are a historic treasure, too fragile at present to be exhibited.

However, the excellent photographic copies of the panels which make up this exhibition clearly demonstrate Clark's abundant talent, easy graphic hand, whimsical humour and natural storytelling tendencies.

"Oceans of Inspiration", Derek Morrison and Jason Low (The Chart Room, Hotel St Clair, Dunedin)

This exhibition is inspired by the sea and beach of St Clair - a constant inspiration for artist Jason Low and photographer Derek Morrison.

Both are local to the area of St Clair and both have a passion for surfing the Otago coastline.

Although there is a simplicity and tranquillity to many of Low's oils, his work is filled with colour and thought - a response to the world around him.

Parts of his artwork are hard-edged and detailed, such as the tree-clad hills of St Clair which are dotted with houses, many of them recognisable to the viewer.

Others are organic and flowing - forms and palette softly merge to depict water and skies, horizons and sunsets as evident in his large work, The Headland.

Translated through the lens, Morrison captures moments that would otherwise be reserved for surfers and swimmers.

His image, Inside, Blackhead Beach, fills one with amazement - the ocean wave caught like a frozen moment spilling over the top in a perfect hollow tube, the colour and light very clean and clear.

Drift, St Clair Beach is a more tranquil image in which two figures appear as black silhouettes against a grey, softly lit sky and seascape.

Both men have an intimate relationship with the ocean and it is this that they communicate through this exhibition.

They hope that each artwork will elicit a reaction: a feeling of awe, or of peace, or of familiarity.

"Steel Bronze Paint", recent works by Paul and Fran Dibble, (Gallery Thirty Three, Wanaka)

Fran and Paul Dibble have together drawn on a range of subject matter for their joint exhibition.

Paul, a leading contemporary figurative sculptor working in bronze, has filled the gallery floor with many of his pieces - some literally tower above the viewer.

The walls are filled with Fran's work - polyptychs of painted panels which are underpinned by a grid, drawing the individual paintings into a cohesive whole.

Paul's tactile and fluid forms are both abstract and representational.

Native birds, such as pigeons and fantails, perch on pared-back modern structures, such as in Fantail Construction.

In other cases, elegant dancers and acrobats appear to be performing for birds, animals and fish.

Harmonies depicts a ballet dancer en pointe for her feathered companion; effectively reversing the traditional role of human as bird-watcher.

Fran Dibble has an unusual background for an artist, with degrees in biochemistry and botany, which now inspire her art.

Her work not only encompasses the purely abstract by using paint effects, brush marks and textural elements but also depicts loose representations of nature - lily pads, goldfish, plants, seeds, mushrooms and blood-cells.

Painted panels are placed in a sequence to create a narrative open to multiple interpretations.

Some feature the motif of the hands of a conductor, while others use the symbol of the water droplet.