The galleries: Sweet serenity and some shockers

By T.J.McNAMARA


What will it be - sweet singing or raucous shouting? There is a stack of exhibitions around Auckland this week, most of them abstract.

Some are lyrical, pure abstraction where the paintings exist entirely as objects in their own right although hinting at their origin in land, sea and sky. By contrast, one prominent show is the vehicle for strident, coarse comment on the world of people.

There is only to the end of this week to see the serene work of Richard Adams, musician and artist, at the McPherson Gallery in Vulcan Lane. The works are on canvas and paper and share a delicate surface brushed in such a way that rich underpainting often shows through the muted but beautiful colours of the geometric areas of paint.

The principal shapes are arranged as horizontal bands and, generally, the heavier colours are near the bottom of the paintings. This establishes a horizon in the painting and emphasises links with sea and wide sky as well as weathered structures.

Although these paintings may have their inspiration in sea and surfaces, each is a deeply considered structure. Vertical bars and straight lines have their function in tensioning the work and give a lovely sense of balance.

The scrubbed blue and jade green of such works as Merge or Harbour are singularly appealing and the red that shows through everywhere gives strength to the colour. These are lyric works of great poise, carried through with a sure touch.

Another show with the purity of music is the fine exhibition by J.S. Parker at the Judith Anderson Gallery in Lorne St. It also ends on Friday. By a process of long and steady development, the artist arrived at an abstract style which is part of one of the mainstreams of modern art.

The surfaces are more robust but simpler than those of Adams. Rather than being applied in thin brushed layers, they are trowelled on in a way that makes them vibrant and tactile. The exhibition is called Plainsong Autumn to Winter 2004 and the single line is like the soloist in a medieval church choir. The musical analogy could be carried too far, since the line is usually a number of colours painted one over the other so that hints of underlying colour show through. The wide fields of colour are similarly layered.

A typically rich work is Plainsong From the Beaten Gold of April where golden yellow is the main colour but reveals dark shadows underneath and the single central vertical line leaps upward as blue.

What these paintings do very successfully is convey a mood while creating objects precious in themselves. Plainsong to the Red of May is particularly fine. Variations with a number of lines laid horizontally come closer to nature but lack the dramatic shock of the simpler work.

Just how simply this kind of work can be developed as decoration is shown by Ron Hall at the Ardor Gallery in Parnell (until July 28). He takes the weathered surfaces of old beehives, cuts them up and arranges them in grids unified by colour and texture, with grace notes from tea-chests fitted in. The results are visually interesting, pleasing wall decoration.

The exhibition by Martin Poppelwell at the Anna Bibby Gallery (Morgan St, Newmarket), which has an extremely coarse pun as its title, has a certain raw, raunchy vigour that the other shows lack. There is an anti-art determination to shock and a rugged avoidance of anything that might suggest grace or even skill.

The shocking part typically features stacks of ceramic eyeballs looking like grapes. They are also available in pairs. You can also have shards of no particular shape, some crude lettering on hardboard, or a plate with an offensive motto.

All this stuff is just jumbled on the floor or in the window and is largely inconsequential. But there are two works on linen that are powerful enough to be convincing. Both are made up of a mass of overlapping rectangles that make an intricate abstraction.

That is only part of the story. Both paintings are filled with lettering and signs. In Ramallah, the signs refer obscurely to the values and life of young people, while in Jerusalem there is an ironic reference to modern society as the "New Jerusalem".

The satiric message of both these paintings is reinforced by the sour, acidic colour of the rectangles. "SLAY ME," "BUST BEAUTY," "I OMM HIGH (yoga)," "STRIP," and "CAUTION WET PAINT" are all part of the mix.

These paintings - energetic, passionate, clever and boldly carried through - undoubtedly have an impact. But ultimately, for all their force, they are sour when they should be challenging.

The exhibition Crochet, in the smaller gallery at Anna Bibby, includes crocheted toilet rolls made by Megan Hansen Knarhoi. They are curiously complementary to the work next door.