Nine artists are offering up a diverse selection of contemporary practice at Page Blackie Gallery in Wellington.

The work represents a cross-section of current artistic endeavour - installation-based practice, painting, photography, sculpture, performance art and the act of documenting it.Nine artists are offering up a diverse selection of contemporary practice at Page Blackie Gallery in Wellington.

The work represents a cross-section of current artistic endeavour - installation-based practice, painting, photography, sculpture, performance art and the act of documenting it.Katrina Beekhuis, Gerard Donaldson, Sam Eng, Pat Macan, Beth O'Brien, Bevan Shaw, Zina Swanson, Malcolm Terry and Wayne Youle have a range of exhibition experience - for many this has been primarily in artist run spaces - however it is the first show in a dealer gallery for most.

Although there was no strict curatorial brief supplied, there is a synergy in the work brought about by the artists' training at the country's top art schools in recent years.

In spite of the institutions' lessening emphasis on painting as a discipline, it has a strong presence here (Donaldson, Macan, Shaw and Terry), but it sits alongside works that incorporate found objects, elements of craft practice, sculpture and installation. A cross-disciplinary approach is encouraged, as artists such as Youle move between modes of production.

There are also some broad thematic references in play. The hand of the artist is omni-present, from Swanson's intriguingly detailed drawings and the precise yet painterly scenes of Shaw, through to O'Brien who, by capturing herself in bizarre situations, examines the nature of human behaviour and social order.

All operate quite consciously in the here and now and look to the society in which their art engages: Eng by referencing a previous work of his that was destroyed by the police late last year; Beekhuis by alluding to the consumer driven world of which she acknowledges art has become a part.

What: Group exhibition, featuring Katrina Beekhuis, Gerard Donaldson, Sam Eng, Pat Macan, Beth O'Brien, Bevan Shaw, Zina Swanson, Malcolm Terry, Wayne Youle
When: until 29 March
Where: Page Blackie Gallery, 42 Victoria Street, Wellington