24 to September 15 Not so long ago, Bermudian artist Charles Zuill had, in his own words, dedicated years to acquiring "control'' over his art, to producing what the 15th-century architect and humanist art theorist Leon Baptista Alberti referred to as "absolute and perfect paintings''.

Eventually, however, the artist came to realise the "impossibility'' of his mission, and surrendered himself wholeheartedly to the "unplanned, unexpected, accidental that imposed itself upon my work''.

The results, among others, are the 13 inventions of earth and acrylic that are currently in the National Gallery until mid-September, enthralling, elemental works that have sprung from the soil (literally) that Dr. Zuill stomped on during a 1994 sabbatical in the vicinity of Lake Michigan.

In these works, the artist, who is currently the president of the Bermuda Arts Council and a professor of fine arts at the Bermuda College, has taken the most fundamental of materials -- sand, clay, a magnetic iron oxide called magnetite -- and crafted them into works of art of an almost religious intensity.

In fact, Dr. Zuill writes, "It is the stuff of life and death, and by making it centrally important to my work, I saw this as an act of homage.'' Homage to whom? To God perhaps, or Mother Earth, or the hidden creative forces that have made the soil on which Dr. Zuill rhapsodises such an indispensable part of human existence, and therefore more precious than gold.

But life and death, of course, can mean different things to different people.

Some people, for instance, may welcome death (to relieve them from pain or suffering), while others, who embrace life, may rally their wills against it.

This, not coincidentally, is all reflected in Dr. Zuill's oeuvre, which is as complex and thoughtful as it is beautiful and free.

In "Night Life'', for example, the darker side of the world is suggested strongly to the viewer, the various black columns that jut up against a background of grey connoting the breadth and depth of this planet we live on, the untapped power of nature.

Another work, moreover, may be lighter and brighter, containing (as "Summer Time'' does, for instance) a whimsical, happy beauty that invites the observer to gaze away for hours, to dream on it, and, if one could, to touch it.

Of the various assembled works in this series, the most gorgeous visually are those that have a slightly metallic sheen to them, a lustre that makes the viewer wonder if they indeed have come from this planet.

The coppery-looking "Fossil Beds'', for example, suggests some distant or imaginary moonscape, as does the grey and crackly "Crazed'', a clay-on-paper creation that delights and engages the eye.

Composed of Elmer's glue, sand and acrylic on paper, meanwhile, the sea green-coloured "Bronze Age'' brings to mind some faraway emerald planet, some otherworldly ocean or prehistoric gemstone, almost anything but its actual geographic source -- Michigan.

In the end, however, the viewer has no choice but to realise that all of these works are Michigan, of and from this planet, to be respected and revered.

And if nothing else, Dr. Zuill's exhibition has the important effect of presenting the Earth (or earth itself) in an often overlooked light -- and that is: as an object of beauty to be treasured.

In that sense at least, Dr. Zuill's creations are indeed the "perfect paintings'' he was striving for, the absolutes he was seeking with all his energies. -- Danny Sinopoli REVIEW