July 14 Out of a large number of submissions for the annual Summer Show, juror Maurine Cooper selected just 58 works for presentation. The result is an unusually strong exhibition where the emphasis seems to be expressly slanted toward creativity.

The Society certainly has enough talent to consistently produce shows of this calibre -- stringent pruning, as we have seen recently, may well be the answer to raising the public's awareness of the Society's unique position as the touchstone for the creative artist.

The very fact that the Society is Bermuda's oldest art institution has, in many ways, been its weakness, for the temptation to relegate it to `establishment' status has been exacerbated over the years by the steady proliferation of what might loosely be termed as `commercial' or shop art -- to say nothing of the many new art groups which have mushroomed almost, it seems, overnight. Any move, therefore, to re-focus on creativity and exploration of form and style is a welcome one and, in this show, at least, underlines the indisputable fact that the Society of Arts remains the nerve centre for the Island's working artists.

Another encouraging sign is the even mix of work from regular and newer members. In this latter category is Frank Dublin, whose self-portrait, entitled `Silent Rage' is brushed in powerfully spare strokes of watercolour.

Any technical shortcoming is compensated by an almost shocking sense of communication.

Directly across the room, glowers another fellow in similar mood. This is also a powerful self-portrait, this time labelled as `No. 2, Naked Aggression' and is the work of Jonas Jones. With its dramatically angry (and altogether impolite) gesture, this painting, again, comes from a relative beginner who certainly paints from the heart; his fascination with the medium is reflected in the luxurious thickness of the paint, often slashed and stabbed over the canvas.

Jennifer Stobo displays an arresting nude `Figure Study', flatly painted in high-toned colours which dramatise the contours of the female form. Close by, is an intriguing work by one of Bermuda's perpetually intriguing painters, Graham Foster. Still dabbling -- skillfully, but dabbling all the same -- in a breathtaking range of styles, most of which at the moment still seem to be largley derivative, Foster's depiction of `Ophelia's Descent' is nevertheless a fascinating and beautifully realised work. Brushed predominantly in deep aqua, Ophelia's long tresses float through decoratively disturbed water as she and two mysterious but spritely companions drift to a watery grave.

Will Collieson (who, incidentally, gallantly undertook the hanging of this show in the midst of preparation for his own highly successful group exhibition at Admiralty House) has two gems in this show: two Interiors with Cages, one with a large blue and yellow parrot, both sporting classical columns on which are poised, in one picture, a ball and, in the other a vase of flowers, the overall effect being vaguely Monty Pythonish, the strident reds, yellows and blues gloriously skidding with light.

Sheilagh Head has been a painter of abstracts ever since her college days, a fact often, but inexplicably, overlooked in an artist who, to a large extent, may be said to have redefined the art of the Bermudian landscape. Far from abandoning her preoccupation with Bermuda's light (there are two magnificent examples of these in the show), her two abstracts take her back to her artistic roots, which began in cool, grey Manchester. Sombre in mood, they serve as an artistic antidote to the celebration of nature. She uses a daring mix of slate and khaki hues, only occasionally fractured with light -- and she does so with the consummate ease of the professional painter. Stuck, for some reason, in a corner of the gallery, the larger work, `Terre Ta-Te', should have been hung as a centrepiece of the show.

There are plenty of artistic delights in this show, not least of which is the work of Vaughan Evans, whose pastel landscape studies are revealing an artist at the height of his powers, the ever-lovely watercolours of Christopher Marson, and an exquisitely formed bronze sculpted figure from Judith Faram, best known for her jewellery, but increasingly now, showing a perhaps unsuspected talent for the fine arts.

On the subject of art openings, what began as a noble experiment in cooperation through arranging same-day openings for exhibitions, has ended in an ignoble flurry of artistic indigestion. Five openings (as with this show) on one evening is far too much. It was especially unfortunate that a witty and informed speech by Police Commissioner Coxall who had been invited to open the Society of Arts show, was missed by the majority of artistic first-nighters who found themselves trapped downstairs for the duration of several "opening'' speeches at the National Gallery.

PATRICIA CALNAN Members' Show.