LANDMARKS – COEGA, an exhibition of paintings by Lez Dor, at the Alliance Francaise until December 10.

FOR the past five to 10 years I have encountered Lez Dor’s work on various exhibitions around Port Elizabeth – and have been reluctant to be fully truthful about the fact that I found her painting technique somewhat turgid and uninspired. However, I am happy to report that this exhibition represents a massive leap forward for this hardworking artist.

Suddenly all that latent talent starts to shine, just as the pigment which previously looked dull and overworked, now assumes a glowing luminosity that makes it instantly collectible.

Counting among her influences such luminaries as Neil Rodger, Hillary Graham and Robert Brooks, this exhibition sees Dor slot into that illustrious company with works which are inextricably located in the Eastern Cape heartland.

There is a school of landscape painting in this region which dates back, I believe, to Professor Brian Bradshaw at Rhodes many years ago, and this body of works continues that fine tradition. The Cape Midlands region lends itself to land- and cityscapes that are unique – far more powerful, and interesting, in my mind, than those emanating from the country’s more famous, picturesque tourist traps.

I was overwhelmed when faced with the first work on this show, a wonderfully understated painting titled Salt pan at Coega. Working in acrylics and oils on canvas, somehow Dor has mastered her technique, bringing a fluidity of style and paint application which enables the colours to sing in gentle harmony. The key to great painting is you shouldn’t be aware of the paint – unless, of course, texture is your forte. But, like Gauguin on Tahiti, Dor now reveals that less is indeed more, as she allows thinner washes of pigment to glow with light and colour. Here the view is of the Cerebos saltworks, as seen across pans reflecting the sky in their rust-tinged waters. Her painting of the piles of white salt is superb, as is her attention to detail in the foreground stones, pebbles and weathered structural timber.

Another clever device is to create a mirror effect in the bottom quarter of the canvas, with the main view, as in Coegakop Road, reflected below. Here she includes four red diagonal “powerlines” across the sky, which symbolise the industrial transformation in the area. In Cloverleaf, the focus is on a massive road network superimposed on older gravel roads and tracks, with the new port suggested in the distance.

But the whole project is crystallised in the delightful Dolosse. This semi-abstract painting features an expertly painted row of dolosse, with all their interesting shadow-facets, flanked by the edges of the river valley, with a translucent pile of salt behind, and the sea in the distance.

Her use of colour here is again expert. Another sublime work is Lake Pan, where the focus is on the luminous lilacs and blues of the large foreground body of water, with the saltworks in the distance, set against dark, rolling Coega countryside. Again, the attention to detail in the foreground stones and timberwork is wonderful.

There are half a dozen other fine, often very large, works on this show, which is a must for all lovers of intelligently painted Eastern Cape landscapes.

Try to see it.