Hot on the heels of Le French May and Italy 2005: Quality & Lifestyle, Australia - Art & About features 23 of the country's artists in nine galleries. Aboriginal works, glass, sculpture and pieces more 'out there' than the typical SoHo fare are loosely strung together with a wry sense humour.

Gaffer Studio Glass hosted the event's opening, with a diverse glass display that ranged from purely ornamental sculpture to vases and panel screens.

Although the bulk of the works are by Australians, there are also pieces by American, Canadian and Portuguese artists.

Vibrant, form-driven pieces of kiln-cast blown glass by Gerry King stand beside a whimsical sculpture by B. Jane Cowie, made of glass, a leather strap and a piece of brick.

The 10 Chancery Lane Gallery features paintings by three Australian artists. Marnie Wark's pieces are tapestry-like patterns on a stark, white ground. Matthew Johnson's seem like a cross between pointillism and digital pixels. David Bromley's organic forms have a hyper-realistic quality.

The work of two Australians at Art Statement gallery is among the most challenging. Only a small collection of Deborah Paauwe and David Lehmann's works are on show, but what's there is confronting.

The surface glamour of Lehmann's beaded creations suggest delicate embroidery meets Las Vegas. On closer inspection, the works are based on the nipple, alluding to an eroticism beyond glitz. Paauwe's photographs are like fables of a world in which darkness lurks behind the white picket fence.

Art & About is the brainchild of Australian Trade Commission senior business development manager, Wilson Tang.