Paintings by Helen Darby

This was an exhibition of nine large and seven small paintings by Christchurch painter Helen Darby. The stitched and padded works which were left unstretched and unframed were hung directly on the walls.

In a review of this exhibition in The Press, art critic John Hurrell compared Darby's use of gestural brush strokes and crayon markings and the colours used with those of painter Peter Wolden, whom she was sharing a studio with at the time. He noted however that what set Darby's works apart was their similarity to soft quilts and bed covers which gave them a distinctive feminine sensibility.

The smaller works were experimental mock-ups for the larger final paintings.