AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND.- From May 29, at the Uxbridge Art Centre in Howick (a south-eastern suburb of Auckland), two exhibitions present a dramatic combination of vision and style. The main gallery has reformatting the still life - photomedia paintings by Clay Bodvin.

With the theme used in a solo exhibition in Rome last year, Clay's new work continues an examination into the nature of still life painting. The artist describes his creative approach as "...operating at the intersection of the message and the medium" where he fuses new technology with old processes.

As artists now have the tools to transform collections of everyday, household objects in ways previously un-thought of, consider what Matisse's Red Interiors and paper cut-outs might have looked like using laptops and photomedia technology?...and, would art objects even still be produced?

Some answers to these questions may be found in Bodvin's work. Photomedia technology allows a strong focus on the edge found between object-shapes, colour-fields and surface-textures while pixelated areas of flat-colour sit next to lush, continuous-tone highlights.

At the same time, Clay expresses concern when using new media as a creative tool that "...the message should be about much more than just the medium". That is, a still life painting was traditionally imbued with symbolism and concern for the state of society at the time. Subject matter commented on not only the art patron's tastes and desires but their new-found ability to acquire and consume.

So, like those earlier still life, Bodvin's domestic interiors and serial compositions raise questions about consumerism and today's objects of desire. Eleven large prints on paper provide a real insight into this artist’s take on the luxurious nature of our modern, everyday things. For example, an original interior (from early 2004) provides sharp contrast to his latest notion of what a still life can be, finished just a month ago.

In the adjoining gallery, although sharing a concern for what happens at that edge between things like colour and shape, the work of Richard Boyd-Dunlop makes comment through a very different stylised, expressionist imagery.

Usually working on a large scale, here Richard mounts an exhibition of smaller, more accessible, domestically-sized work. Without the Magnifying Glass combines structure, colour and texture with the artist's personal vocabulary of signs and symbols to also make comment on aspects of today's society.

The opening preview starts at 6pm on Tuesday, May 29 with both exhibitions running until June 14. Gallery hours are Monday - Friday, 10am to 4pm; Saturday, 10.30am to 3pm.