Because there were so many art shows opening on the weekend before May 24, I went to see the Will Collieson show at the Interim Gallery (at King and Reid Streets where the Windjammer Gallery used to be) the afternoon before the Friday evening opening. This turned out to be before the show was fully installed. This is definitely not a professional way to review a show, but with Mr. Collieson installing the last of his works as I watched I probably had more fun than I would have had by going sedately to the opening. And fun, of course, one always has at a Will Collieson show.

Apart from the extraordinarily fascinating found objects and artefacts that go into the makeup of his pieces, the unique sense of humour that informs them and their titles can actually provoke outright laughter. There is, for example, a couple of bits of leg bone, possibly horse, wrapped in mummy style in shellac covered masking tape to achieve an aged, unhealthy appearance. These two bits of leg bone are connected by pieces of artificial knee replacement parts. The whole little ensemble is topped by a bunch of artificial flowers. It helps to know that Mr. Collieson has been a distance runner for many years. The piece thus becomes an ironic memorial for his own damaged and painful knees.

?Forgotten Project? is a collection of more bones and some teeth in an upended antique, partitioned, wooden cash drawer contained behind an absolutely intriguing wire cage made from a basket with small metal proprietary labels of a ?Samson Airline, Chicago. Patented May 1897 April 25, 1899 Sep 26, 1905?. Perhaps the Wright brothers missed something.

This hangs on the wall above an aggressive looking little hand, finger pointed upward and painted an unhealthy shade of pink. Its title is ?Get the Point?? Rather disconcertingly, one does.

The stone part of ?Getting Blood out of a Stone? produces a new twist to an old bag, so to speak. The seen-before bag is now attached by a tube to the newly introduced stone from which, of course, no blood flows. ?Look Mum, no Hands!? is a Second World War Spitfire in a steep nosedive supported against the wall by a pair of child?s legs. One arm projects from the body of the plane over a wing. The other arm is missing. The humour is a little macabre.

Two collages of objets trouv?es are, as always fascinating studies. Reading glasses are helpful and the artist has thoughtfully introduced a magnifying glass through which one may study the tiny scales on a small gold lizard.

Some of the objets are easily identified, some are mystifying. ?Hunter Gatherer? with much old leather, more bones and a splendid pair of antlers dominates the room and is certainly evocative, if somewhat eccentric in concept.

A second room contains slightly more conventional at least at first glance, works that might pass for paintings in Mr. Collieson?s world, always more complex and mysterious than a first glance suggests. The series of works painted on collages of old canvas, seems included, has been shown before. A set of abstractions of more or less identifiable scenes of rural connotation, including one of sunny fields of yellow and another of the bow of a sailboat, actually turn out to be sawn up painted board, fitted together like a jigsaw puzzle to achieve the desired effect. Complication underlies almost everything Mr. Collieson sets his hand to, but the sunny effect counterbalances the rather sombre humour elsewhere. The same goes for ?Mellow Yellow?, a large abstract in sunny yellows in which the determined enthusiast may discern a hidden face, perhaps of a cat. ?It All Adds Up? is an abstraction based on the number 295 and ?Behind the Green Door? is a darker abstraction of fencing and gate in green and yellow with interestingly achieved textures. What informs these works is the fine quality of the painting.

I am reputed by some to ?dislike? modern art. I do find the message, if any, frequently difficult to fathom, but my dislike is confined to sloppy painting by those who have never bothered to learn the basic grammar and syntax of their language. Mr. Collieson, thank God, knows his thoroughly and his work is always worth seeing and often good for a laugh.

Andrew Trimingham