Recently, I have been privately complaining about the sameness of exhibitions at the Bermuda Arts Centre at Dockyard. Generally speaking, the exhibiting artists have been competent enough and the exhibitions tastefully hung, but after a while, seeing similar works by the same artists, over and over again, gets tedious. I kept on wishing for a new vision, a fresh viewpoint.

When I visited the Arts Centre for the opening of their current show, I was prepared for the worst and was gearing up to say something about it.

Surprise! They must have been reading my mind. This exhibition is refreshingly different from the other recent exhibitions. I noticed too, that a number of the artists are new to the local art scene. Additionally, the artists, for once, took to the theme of the exhibition with enthusiasm and imagination. More often than not, previous to this show, they seemed to do what they pleased and for the most part, ignored the themes altogether. The exhibition's theme this time is "More Than One", which to be sure, is quite open ended. This makes allowances for, and encourages the artists to use their imagination and creativity.

Helle Pukk's work first caught my attention with her three large platters that are notable for their bold and colourful depictions of exotic leaves, all set against contrasting backgrounds. This artist has stepped up to the theme by creating more than one platter, but all three have related decorative elements.

Nearby, on an exhibition panel, is a strong drawing in wax crayon by Emma Ingham-Dounouk. This drawing shows a double depiction of a model, whose name presumably is Charmain. It's title is simply 'Charmain, Charmain', however, what I particularly noticed about this drawing are the long, tenuous lines that are strikingly sophisticated and jazzy.

I happen to know that Ms Ingham-Dounouk is a trained fashion illustrator and although this skill, it seems, is presently out of fashion, the skill that she gained from this training is what gives this drawing its strength. The "More Than One" aspect of this contribution, is the double depiction of Charmain.

Al Dounouk is showing three of his photographs of fruit and vegetables.

Christopher Grimes has a surprise for us on the east wall of the gallery. There he is showing several of his recent paintings, but if you are accustomed to his precise depictions of old Bermuda, get ready for a change. I knew that he has been painting regularly with the Plein Air Group and this undoubtedly is the catalyst for his new approach. When I walked into the show, I saw what I thought must be the work of a new artist in our community. It is that different.

What I found was a group of six paintings, all freely and colourfully executed, and all with the signature of Christopher Grimes.

A little further along the same wall is a double depiction – two paintings of a particular squall by Molly Godet. Of course squalls move, sometimes quite rapidly and she must have been trying to keep up with it. At any rate, she, in one instance, got a little too close and got one of her watercolours rain spattered. This added a new dimension to her work. It is what artists refer to as a happy accident. Both paintings, which are of the same format, are shown within a single frame. Both are notably atmospheric. The title for this work is 'Drowned At Castle Point'. The catalogue states that the media is watercolour and rain. That is a new angle but one that I find appealing.

One of the new artists in the show is James Micallef Grimau. He is showing two large acrylic landscapes.

One is of rock formations, while the other shows a group of houses at sunset. The 'Rock Formations' are surreal, in that the two most prominent rocks appear to be hovering above the surrounding sea. The other painting, 'Paget at Sunset', is notable for its economy of means, that is, it suggests a group of buildings, which although colour-wise, seems to blend together as one. The contours suggest, if not separate buildings, at least different architectural wings and roofs.

James McCulloch, who has been exhibiting only a few months, has ventured into new territory with a set of four paintings, that fall into the post-modernist category of "art about art". These four works use the painting styles by Munch, Matisse, Lichtenstein and Warhol as a springboard to new creations, which is a portrait of the same person, although in the various styles of the artists mentioned. All are colourful and of the same size. It is a useful way for an artist to explore a variety of techniques and at the same time present the viewing public with the wit and sophistication of neo-mannerism.

Vaughan Evans is showing five of his relief prints. Within each print are repeated elements, which is his way of dealing with the exhibition theme. Two of these prints are self-portraits but, to give them variety and interest, the artist introduces variations in complimentary colour. If the head is, say red, the background is green and so on. One is called 'Two by Two' and is a double self-portrait. The other, is reminiscent of the multiple heads and artificial colouration of Andy Warhol. It depicts four self portraits. In his 'Twin Trees', Mr. Evans creates an image of an abstract tree and then repeats it but as a mirror image. I am not certain how he achieved this effect but I imagine that he did the first image, then printed it on another board and then carefully cut that plate, thus getting the mirror image. Other than that, he might have developed some kind of offset technique.

I am intrigued by the many different ways artists have interpreted the exhibition theme. Chris Marson and Jonah Jones actually collaborated in producing one painting of a Dockyard tug. I understand that Jonah did the blocking in, while Chris added the colour. Finally Jonah did the finishing touches.

I noted that they used both acrylic and oil paint in making this painting. Hopefully Jonah first used acrylic for blocking in the work, with Chris painting on top, with oils. It is perfectly alright to use acrylics underneath oils but acrylics on top of oils will create a disaster. The "More Than One" feature of this work is the collaboration of the two artists.

Although by no means new to the Arts Centre, Jo Stanton is mostly known for her behind the scenes, administrative activities of this institution. In this exhibition, however, she is showing her series of photographs of Venetian dogs. They, besides being well composed, are also entertaining.

Lexi Tibbetts has been showing her work at the Arts Centre for some time now, although I still consider her relatively new on the Bermuda art scene. In this show, she has an intriguing variation on the theme. The painting, which includes collage elements, is called 'Seven 7s'. In it she shows seven groupings that are each made up of seven elements, such as the seven virtues.

Chris Bailey's manipulated photographs of Bermuda frogs, hardly seems like photographs. In the strict sense of the word, I don't suppose they are although they did start out as such. Nevertheless, they are all visually engaging and worth viewing. One shows five small variations on the theme of frog in a vertical arrangement, one frog above the other and then framed.

Rob Powell is also another new artist and in this show, he is exhibiting a group of abstracts, that tend to be expressive and on the warm side, colour-wise. By that I mean, they tend to be made up of reds, oranges and yellows.

Others in the show are Jackie Stevenson with two small works in watercolour and pastel. I was especially attracted to 'Hooked', a watercolour that vividly depicts the silvery sheen of fish. Molly Smith has branched out from her delicate watercolours into relief printing with her 'Falling Leaves'.

It is good to once again see the work of Canadian Lynda Shalagan, who, some time ago, painted here as an artist-in-residence for the Masterworks Foundation.

The exhibition continues through May 23.