8.

The Bermuda Society of Arts should be applauded for fitting in another show in addition to its regular summer exhibition. The Unjuried Show of 1992 once again gives "developing'' artists a chance to be seen and presumably, encourages the more faint-hearted to show their work without having to go through the uncertainties of the selection process which, for some, means rejection.

There is certainly no shortage of works by established artists. These include Otto Trott, Chris Marson, Elizabeth Mulderig, Valerie Weddup and Willie Collieson, but as most of these were left over from the previous show, it seems only fair to concentrate, in this review, on some of the more promising newcomers who form the nucleus of this exhibition.

Brett Fountain is a young artist attending the Maryland Institute College of Art, who was one of the very few who had one of his works accepted for the Society of Illustrators Annual Scholarship Competition in New York earlier this year. His contribution takes pride of place at the entrance to the City Hall exhibition. The startling, undeniably beautiful portrayals of Bermuda's fish and undersea world might be expected to hold a fairly limited appeal. But his remarkable technical prowess, both in pastel and oils and his dramatic use of bold colour lends his work a certain theatrical flair that ensures a much wider audience.

The other outstanding work is by Georgina Hollis. All eyes are drawn to her large picture of The Sabbath, portraying a trio of black ladies, clad in their Sunday best and caught in animated conversation. A hint of the primitive style here, with boldly etched lines, clear, bright and unshaded colours and a simplicity of composition that positively sparkles with movement.

Bruce Smith, a visiting artist who apparently arrived here on his boat, may also be described as a primitive. Working in enamel on wood, in bright, basic colours, he evokes a vivid and witty vision of islands further south, such as his four-toed native worker still cheerfully hacking wood and amusingly titled Chopin Sweet, the atmospheric colours of Scraper's Rum Punch Bar and the typically "gingerbread cottage'' lines of an Anguilla House.

There are two abstract works by Jane Cellura-Burgess, that are full of promise, her Subway III in mixed media and shades of deep rust and browns revealing an arresting sense of composition.

David Dill's oil portrait of Margaret Downing Dill (looking remarkably tranquil at the other end, as it were, of the artist's brush) is a promising work that indicates a sure sense of texture and brushwork.

A set of watercolour pictures of brown-sailed boats and river barges by Jon Mills are also most attractive. He has not yet mastered the difficulties encountered in painting really "liquid'' water, but his crafts are sensitively drawn.

The acrylic landscape scenes of Proctor Martin, the watercolour paintings of Bermuda flowers by Ann Zuill Williams and Michael Hutley's pencil Still Life are also well worth a lingering look. Vernon Jackson, who only took up painting a couple of years ago, shows a quite remarkable technical improvement in his Old Par-La-Ville.

As a welcome change of pace, Carol Roy's embroidery pictures on a Bermudian theme are beautifully worked, particularly the textures she has managed to convey in her close-up of old stone walls and Sea, Surf and Sand.

Similarly, Claire Woods' fabric collages of local flowers and her three-dimensional Bermuda House are also of a high standard, as is Kitten Ellison's delicately sumi on silk paintings of Dancing Hibiscus. Garen Simmons' cedar work, especially his Cello Player is unusual in that it is quite intricately carved and, again, is full of technical promise. -- Patricia Calnan.