Exhibitions to please many

Press, 30 August 1980, Page 22

Exhibitions to please many

■ Two exhibitions. Points North — paintings by Don Binney and paintings by Errol Shaw at the BrookeGifford Gallery’ until September 5. Reviewed by David Brbkenshire. It is a long time since we have had the opportunity to see any paintings bv Don Binney. This is a complete exhibition on a theme the artist hopes will form a big series. In general the exhibition is of landscapes which feature the curious vertical volcanic plug for- . mations between Ruawai and Dargaville in Northland. Travelling through this locality these stark extrusions cast a shadow of their violent past. In my view little of this violence is captured. For many years I have enjoved “Canterbury Bird” of 1970 by Don Binney in the Robert McDougall Art Gallery. I confess to feeling disappointed that none of the paintings shown here match “Canterbury Bird” in formal inventiveness or show any advance in colour or texture. 1 still enjoy his handling of oils with its sensuous “fat” quality and I am sure there' are folk who will thoroughly appreciate the opportunity to see Don Binney’s paintings again. The “Panels” of Errol Shaw are just a small sampling of this artist’s work. These are colour ar-

rangements where the “gestures” of the application of the paint assume great importance. The small red panel and the two larger ones I found particularly attractive. The horizontal panels with two vertical panels appear to hover just behind the main panel yet exert a colour influence I found visually stimulating. I will certainly watch for future work by this artist.