Been out of town for awhile so I thought it wise to attend the City of Perth Art Award, to catch myself up with the current art scene. Let it be said at the onset that the concept of this acquisitive award is excellent as the winners will add another paragraph to the historical record of visual art development in Australia. This exhibition presents twenty-eight of the 'best' exhibits culled from over a thousand entrants (or so I was told) from around the Country. With that in mind, all one finds in this display is evidence that fine art in Australia is in decline.

If we are to believe 'creating space' is the unifying theme of the exhibition, then one has to conclude it was drawn with a very broad brush. Do provide the 'gold coin' donation and acquire a catalogue as some of the unique prose employed to connect an exhibit to the theme is the only real art involved. When reading some entries one is reminded how, during certain phases of contemporary art history, the more one could quote experts or employ convoluted and obtuse language to validate a work as 'art', the easier it was to distract viewers from the exhibit's lack of artistry. A case is point here is how a picture of coloured spots fits into the exhibition's theme by explaining them as a depiction of space by "denying the viewer the visual information that can be used to label and cognitively know space". Then there are the two rectangular boxes painted yellow, fore and aft, and placed one atop the other on a horizontally plane. No its not sculpture, it's a free standing soft edged abstract painting intended to emphasize "space around lines ... within a modular system." Oh Tom Wolfe, where are you now!

Thankfully there are some good examples of photography, drawings and paintings that make the effort to see the exhibition worthwhile. Australian Dancer, a type C photograph by Karina Grundy, stopped me in my tracks. This stunning triptych shows the whole plant (roots and flowers) suspended on a black ground to accent the different types of 'space' it needs for survival - earth and sky. In the drawing category there's Megan McPherson's quartet of ink and silk thread etchings entitled Measuring distance, measured space, windswept, which provides a sense of both real and imagined space, fine skill and an interesting use of media. Then there is 53 Drawings of 1 View April - November, a collection of small sketches in biro and pencil by Vanessa Woolley. These delightful drawings record time and space as well as the artist's mood and mind-set.

When it comes to the paintings, Garry Pumfrey's realistic rendering of the Burswood Peninsula Tower 1 is very well done however it articulates more about consumerism that 'fills in' rather then 'creates' space in urban societies. In direct opposition to the subject of this work is the excellent image Gullaroonari - Munja Country by Omborrin (Ngarinyin). Here the painted surface space, like the landscape it depicts, is filled with powerful creative spirits defined in earthy hues. Juan Ford's photo-realist painting, A shadow's exertion, relates to the two aforementioned images as it draws attention to figure/landscape and spiritual/corporeal relationships. An unseen sun located in dark space casts delicate shadows of earthly foliage onto the bare back a woman. A well executed and thought provoking image that is in touch with the theme.

One could suppose the exhibits that took the winning and commendation awards are deserving, although neither overtly relates to the theme. However, each is well presented and provides an excellent written explanation of the image.