Members' Open Show Bermuda Arts Centre at Dockyard until March 5.

"A juried member show without a theme -- simply the best of our local artists current work,'' reads the invitation that plonked itself on my desk recently.

So it was with a spring in my step that I travelled down to the west of the Island one glorious Sunday afternoon to find out how the local talent had been spending the winter months. And with no restrictions on subject matter there was bound to be some innovative and challenging stuff on display I thought.

Surely? Perhaps it's just the time of year. Perhaps Bermuda's winter isn't conducive to setting up your easel and striking while the iron's hot. Whatever the reason there seems to be little in this show that hasn't been entered in other exhibitions before.

It's not just a question of the same old artists turning out the same old tat -- although it is amazing how many painters, when given a free reign and are asked to paint what they want to paint rather than what they think may be popular, return time and time again to that old reliable, the Bermudian landscape.

My main gripe is that more than a third, even possibly half of the works on display here have been in shows before -- a long time ago. Surely Bermuda is far too small to hold a travelling exhibition. It's not that what's on display is totally derisory. It's just that a public exhibition is a chance for artists to show off their latest talents. If they're stuck in a rut and churning out the same old same old then fine, as long as it's the latest same-old stuff, surely? If this is "simply the best of our local artists' current work'' then I have no hesitation in pronouncing the Bermudian art scene as well and truly dead.

In fact it's been decomposing for several months.

The evidence? `Bermuda Farmhouse' by Christopher Grimes, `Waterfront -- Flatts' by Joanne Burton Harris, `Spanish Bayonets' by Margaret Seymour, believe me, the list goes on.

There are a couple of pencil sketches by Dan Dempster which, although quite exquisite -- Dempster is obviously a talented draughtsman -- I remember seeing at a one man show of his about a year ago.

`My Angel' is another painting that, while captivating, has been entered into at least two earlier exhibitions.

`Harold's Cactus' by Jonah Jones is a wonderful simplistic composition, contrasting brilliant light and dark shadow for dramatic effect. It's a painting that I much admire -- and always have done since I saw it hanging on Jonah's studio wall about a year ago. (Jonah's studio is actually within the art centre itself. To get into this exhibition the painting has simply moved about 20 feet along the same wall).

Perhaps I'm labouring the point, but if this review sounds a little tired that's exactly how I felt walking around the show.

Other painters have managed to avoid the temptation of searching through old rejects in a bid to get something in, but even here they disappoint.

Chris Marson's two watercolours, `Early One Morning' and `Moody Blues' fail to match his usually excellent high standard.

Elyse Nierenburg seems to be permanently stuck in a blue period -- yet another ocean view in a wash of various shades of aqua is on show here -- but at least it's one that hasn't been on display before.

Bruce Stuart seems to have reverted to his former style, with two small, finely detailed acrylics, that contrast strongly with the freer, more naive style that he seems to have favoured recently. This of course begs the question, has he reverted to an old style or just selected a few pictures that he completed years ago? Although Bruce's work is quite finished, his paintings look almost shabby when compared to the brilliance of Carolyn Finch's two small gouache studies, `Who Let the Dogs Out?' and `West India'.

Ms Finch is a relatively new name to these exhibitions but hopefully will continue exhibiting in the future. Although, on close examination you get the impression that Ms Finch paints with a 00 brush and a magnifying glass, her scenes are far from finicky and instead seem bright and fresh.

Achieving the same results by adopting a totally opposite approach are two flower studies in watercolour by Kok Wan Lee, which draw on oriental art for their inspiration.

`Canopy', a photograph by Katherine Lapsley is an arresting image while `Bill' by Raziya Swan was as captivating as it was original.

All in all not much to write home about.

Gareth Finighan