until October 2.

The autumn show is traditionally the weakest of the Society's four annual shows. Vacations for the fortunate and three months of heat and humidity for the unfortunate tend to take their toll. Less than 70 works are exhibited in the current show, which is saved from mediocrity by the small core of artists who can always be relied upon to produce work of professional standard.

The theme of the exhibition is Africa, to complement the African show from New York which opens at the National Gallery next month. As usual, few responded, but those who did have produced some of the most interesting work to be seen in this season's offering.

The versatile and highly gifted Hortensia Bosch has entered into the spirit of the thing with a set of stylised portraits worked in fused glass. This complex procedure, which consists of fusing together two or more layers of colour-compatible glass, goes back to ancient Egyptian and Roman times. The strength of the facial structures allied with the bright clarity of colour makes these pieces perhaps the most interesting items in the show.

Deborah Charles continues her experiments in three-dimensional work with a trio of clay masks, moulded from live models and painted with high-gloss black paint. She has skillfully incorporated traditional African jewellery and hair pieces in a satisfying evocation of the African theme.

There are also some highly original masks made by pupils of Harrington Sound and other primary schools, which adorn the rather bare walls of the gallery.

If Diana Tetlow's two superb nude portraits had been placed side by side, they could have provided an interesting comparison of beauty as perceived by East and West -- or as a pointed anthropological comment. First, there is her oil painting of the starkly graceful, but conspicuously lean Maasai boy, Gaiah and, over the other side of the room, a pastel study of a radiant female nude which is positively voluptuous. It goes without saying that both are exquisitely realised.

Sheilagh Head's abstract is not immediately seen to be following the African theme, but certainly the swooping, agitated motion and explosion of blues, purples and flashes of hot pink which permeate this work reflects its given title of Voodoo.

Chesley Trott is producing some beautiful work, this time, two cedar sculptures (including his witty interpretation of a woman who seems to be in animated communion with a crested cock that perches on her shoulder) and a superb bronze sculpture of Woman Releasing Bird, where the long limbs and elongated torso reflect the innate grace of the female form.

Judith Faram takes a rest from her distinctive shell jewellery with two very interesting bronze sculptures. Windspiel, with its dramatic sense of circular motion echoed in a swirling cape, shows imagination and technical prowess.

More, please.

Jason Semos turns, with surprising ease, to landscape painting with a small but memorable oil study of a Bean Field. The bold, almost abstract concept with a deeply-etched horizon, and hedges that almost march across the landscape brings a faint reminder of Van Gogh. As always, it is a painterly work and whets the appetite for future glories which will almost certainly emanate from this gifted student's brush.

Christopher Marson who, with his ability to capture, in an understated sort of way, the signature of a landscape and its kaleidoscope of seasonal moods, might be called the Debussy of Bermuda's painters. He displays a set of six watercolours. He brings the same lyrical comment to the American scene as he does to his Bermuda landscapes -- both are on show here.

There is confirmation of David Dill's celebration of colour in a striking study, painted in acrylics, of a House of the Dam. There is also an atmospheric painting from Brittany Wivell of The Ruin, where long, unkempt grass and a stormy sky lend a wildness that has faintly eerie overtones. So while there is not a great deal to see in this show, there are some pieces which are well worth viewing. There is something to be said, too, for fewer pictures when, as in this case, they are so sympathetically hung.

PATRICIA CALNAN.