The galleries: Twist and thrust of steel sculptures makes a ripper show

David McCracken's Perforated Sheet resembles a mighty military machine. Picture / Carolyn Robertson

Bold and simple or intricate and complex - sculpture usually goes for the first option and the new work by David McCracken at the McPherson Gallery until July 16 is no exception. These big works in stainless steel reach from the floor almost to the ceiling.

Entitled Romantic Portraits in Raw Materials, the rawness comes from the jagged tear that rips across these great slabs of metal, which resemble big chunks of cold rolled steel, though they have been crafted from sheet stainless.

There is a contradiction in the way the steel is apparently torn by powerful forces. It does not just sit and exert immense weight, as do the massive structures of American Richard Serra, although they adhere to the same style.

The power of the work is reinforced by a high polish on the outer surfaces and a burned, blow-torched interior on the thickness of the tears. In the best, the works gain tension and energy by the way the tear gives them a twist, which makes them self-supporting.

The torque, which makes one part recede and the other advance, also reveals the torn gap as a cave or a portal in the massive forms. The monumentality of the slabs is given life in the same way as the turning or contraposto of a torso gives power to a marble statue.

The tearing also conveys an expressionist element of passion that justifies the description Romantic.

Some works in this splendid show do not twist, but gain power from the forward thrust of their curves. Perforated Sheet resembles some mighty military machine. Rectangular piercing makes us aware of the form and reinforces the feeling of weight.

The curve is more pronounced at the bottom, giving overtones of a medieval tournament helmet. The feeling of thrust allied to the static weight of this work makes it truly remarkable.

Fine sculpture is becoming a rarity in an art world of bitsy installations, and it is a pleasure to see a full exhibition by an artist whose individual works in the past have had great promise.

The detailed option is usually the material of prints and paintings. Richard Killeen has a show, Run Takahe Run, at the Ivan Anthony Gallery until July 23 that is rich in magical details.

In his last exhibition, Killeen achieved a potent synthesis of all the themes and techniques of his long career and, in a sense, this is a continuation of that show.

The vehicle for the synthesis was computer technology and ink-jet printing. The images that fascinated Killeen from his earliest days - people, insects and animals, symbols from the archaeological past, architecture and vistas of sky - are all here.

Last year he confined these in the outline of jars with a screw top. A couple of works still use this device but this show takes another step forward in the use of deep, vaulted space and much more subtle shading of curved surfaces.

All the features come together in a big work called Mall Jar. Here something akin to a vaulted shopping mall is supported on immense Egyptian pillars and between them, dominating the floor space, is a huge Baroque jar. Figures from all periods jostle in this mall.

The past is suggested by appropriations of frescoes by Giotto that curve around the pillars. The passage of time is suggested by a band of watches ticking around the rotundity of the jar. In the foreground is a man in a hat staring straight at the viewer in a startling way that makes for immediate involvement.

This intricate imagery takes a great deal of careful reading and evokes a response on many levels. Some works have wonderfully memorable detail, such as the man inside the jar in Jar Falling, or the curious aircraft in the menacing Bomb Delivery. This work is of the highest sophistication, but detail can also give force to a naive vision.

It is a feature of the paintings of another veteran artist, Alan Taylor, at the Courtyard Gallery in Parnell until Monday. His work has not evolved in style or technique but he continually investigates new subject matter.

He has the ability to create an odd, unique world where people, hills, trees and plants take on a significance linked to Maori thinking about the spirit that pervades all things.

A feature of this intriguing show are the works which have a special hill at the centre: works such as Mt Eden or Rangitoto, but they are matched by one very touching work about Anzac Cove on Gallipoli.