GALLERY, WASHINGTON MALL, CHURCH STREET, HAMILTON. UNTIL FRIDAY, JANUARY 9.

*** You notice something refreshingly different when you walk into Nicholas Lusher's gallery in the Washington Mall.

Okay, so you don't expect art galleries or museums to feel like The Robin Hood in the middle of a chaotic happy hour session but nevertheless the very tranquil atmosphere of the show still comes as a surprise.

The reason for this is Dempster's work itself. In a place where artists seem almost conditioned from birth to churn out bland `Bermudiana', on an island littered with canvasses showing turquoise seas, vibrant sunlight and lush greenery dotted pastel coloured houses, his drawings are wonderfully restrained and offer something different from the usually tired menu.

That is not to say that Dempster has shied away from his environment. The 20 or so drawings that line the walls of the gallery all depict local coastal scenes. But it is Dempster's approach that marks him out as different from so many local artists.

The majority of the drawings, all executed in coloured pencil on Ingres paper, zoom in on a microcosm of coastal life -- a footprint in the sand, sunlight catching the ripples of a small rock pool, a piece of driftwood, a clump of grass on a sand dune.

Each piece, usually measuring not more than about ten inches square, is wonderfully detailed and delicate, resulting in a startling degree of realism.

At first glance you see each piece for what it is, paper and pencil on a flat plain. But the more you look the more you become drawn into the space and marvel at the clever way in which Dempster has captured such ethereal qualities.

I've read an awful lot of guff about Dempster's `work'. (God how I hate that phrase) For example one critic, reviewing Dempster's recent `Timewrack and Tide' exhibition in New York, wrote: "Time has been built into the work, hard wired into the concepts, change is natural and intended and inherent in concept. Instead of decaying with the years these works are intended to change with the years, evolve, carry into the future not only the physicality of change but also the resonance of past states.'' And another piece was described as "pulsing with the touch of the divine''.

I'm not sure if I would go along that far. What each viewer gets out of a picture is entirely down to the individual. Sure, you might find yourself contemplating the mysteries of the universe, wondering what the purpose of mankind is, why are we here, where are we going? Then again you might just think "Won't that sketch of a piece of driftwood look lovely above the mantelpiece?'' Whatever Dempster makes you think, there's no getting away from the fact that they are beautiful works of art.

Nicholas Lusher has done a wonderful job in presenting each drawing, which are all beautifully framed and lit.

Gareth Finighan REVIEW REV