Nove

Two excellent exhibitions well worthmaking the effort to see, both finishing in a few days, one very beautiful, the other simply exraordinary! And both at the Dank Street Gallery complex in Waterloo.

Showing in Depot11 Gallery is Aña Wojak's Four Quarters. Sumptuous, shimmering surfaces of richly coloured oils over brushed steel sheet. Oriented to the four cardinal points, each wall is devoted to a season, or perhaps more accurately an element. The 9x panels of East are so gorgeous you could float into them.

Next door at Dominik Mersch Gallery is a stunning exhibition: photographic constructions by Isidro Blasco. The major installation was featured in the Sydney Morning Herald and received a glowing review by John Macdonald. To my mind Blasco has pushed photography far beyond whatever it has been till now. And in the process has added immeasurably to the sculptural lexicon.

Blasco is playful, willfully so. With a knowing nod to Post-Modernism's deconstructivist ideas he has stripped bare the matte board of one of the wall sculptures, destroying the photographs (and they are beautiful photographs, it has to be said), leaving tantalising remnants of images in the crevices and creating an almost completely white artwork which speaks volumes.

The main piece in the centre of the gallery presents such a complex story that one cannot help but walk round and round the work analysing it from all angles. What at first appears a mad conglomeration of artists' easels reveals itself to be an incredibly detailed and complex constructivist sculpture supporting a whole cityscape on its 'face'.

Of course Art is so much more than beautiful paintings and amazing sculptures. If you feel the need to upset your complacency go visit Gallery 4a in Haymarket. "Survivor" by Dadang Christano is a gut-wrenching exhibition discussing the impact of human disaster, in particular the tragic mud catastrophe in Sidojardo region of East Java.