In Ophis, Adam and Eve, as depicted by Massacio cast in despair out of Paradise, are painted in acrylic. They are menaced by a patterned snake-like relief figure in encaustic adorned with sharp triangular shapes that evoke evolution, menace, sin, weapons and technology.
Another Adam and Eve feature in Duplex. The figures in this work are made with an extraordinary technique using silicone stamps to achieve a unified monumental effect in the shading of the forms.
This remarkable method was also used when Gibson Smith turned to Botticelli and Piero della Francesca for some of the show's most outstanding works. It is used to stunning effect in Misericordia, the huge enlargement of Piero's Madonna in Sansepolcro and the confrontation of the faces of Chloris and Zephyrus from Botticelli's Primavera.
From these works Gibson Smith turned to making constructions of wooden blocks painted with egg gesso and lettered with infinite care in a variety of fonts. 750 Painting is a pallet shape made up of the titles of books on art. Dwelling is a freestanding structure made of blocks with titles from studies of language and art.
Two other major leaps in technique use modern technology. A mechanical graph-plotter has made thousands of fine pencil lines in anstriking design of the classical sculpture of The Dying Gaul on the shores of Lake Tarawera after the 1886 eruption. The same technique created the strange Oceans with a steam crane marooned in a Martian landscape.
In yet another creative exploration, Gibson Smith has made three-dimensional forms of computer-designed segments of cardboard overlaid with pencil and encaustic design. The segments are assembled laboriously by hand.
Draughtsmanship, hand, eye, art history, invention, design originality and unique thought make this a grand exposition of an outstanding talent.
The Gus Fisher Gallery is the venue for another interesting retrospective. Mudlark is the work of Bronwynne Cornish, who stands at an intersection of sculpture and the handmade pottery tradition in New Zealand. Her stance is unique in that her ceramics often subvert the tradition. The side room at Gus Fisher is showing a number of cups. These deliberately deny the qualities of fine utilitarian ware strived for by many potters.
Her work is impossible to use yet it still remains, bent and distorted, a series of intriguing objects. The only orthodox cup is a commercial product poised on top of an ironically raw chalice.
Cornish's rebellious spirit also led her to make literal ceramics of everyday objects. She once did a series of ceramic handbags. There is an echo of this in the lines of white glazed clothes pegs among the animals that are part of an installation in the foyer.
In the main room the work is splendidly presented against dark blue walls and subtle spotlighting. Most of the images are statuettes with both human and animal elements. There is an ancient Egyptian quality to many of them but some elements, particularly the use of mirror-glass, add to the magic and take them out of a specific context.
They are much more than just ceramic ornaments. They strongly suggest rituals. One of the strongest pieces is Memento Mori, a figure with antlers flanked by two lesser demigods. As a whole it is an expression of a singular vision.
Georges Seurat famously painted a large study of Parisians relaxing, Sunday Afternoon on the Grande Jatte. Less known are his superb charcoal drawings. Ruth Cole, in her powerful show of nearly 70 works at NKB Gallery, has adapted his subjects and drawing style.
Tellingly, she plants a soft, relaxed image taken from Seurat in front of images of shocking scenes of the carnage and damage of WWI taken from photos and paintings. The contrast is touching and the black and white of the drawing gives a documentary quality to this fine work.
At the galleries
What:
Peter Gibson Smith: 31-Year Survey, 1984-2014
Where and when:
Pah Homestead, 72 Hillsborough Rd, to January 18
TJ says:
A comprehensive exhibition that chronicles the remarkable variety of expression and technique over the long career of this inventive artist.
What: Mudlark by Bronwynne Cornish
Where and when: Gus Fisher Gallery, 74 Shortland St, to December 13
TJ says: Ceramicist uses her skills with clay to break conventions and make ritual statuettes and structures that have magic, and a strong sense of the links between the spirit of humans and animals.
What: Strange Juxtapositions by Ruth Cole
Where and when: NKB Gallery, 455 Mt Eden Rd, Mt Eden, to December 2
TJ says: This suite of 67 charcoal drawings follows the manner of the drawings of the famous 19th century French painter Seurat and effectively juxtaposes quiet figures from his work with the horrors of the Western Front in WWI.
