Gallery Iolani and its director, Windward Community College art professor Toni Martin, have a track record for exhibiting serious artists who play important roles in Hawaii's art scene. This month the gallery dedicates its space to emerging artists Joe Bright and Neale Asato, who show their chops in “;Confrontation/Contemplation.”;

While most shows at the gallery are curated by Martin, this one is handled by longtime artist and contemporary art expert Keiko Hatano. No matter the curator, however: Followers of the scene will take note of Bright and Asato simply because of the gallery's reputation. And overall, the duo deliver thoughtful work that establish them as good fits for the space.

Bright pulls inspiration from Buddhist philosophy and meditation to create a 16-foot photo collage of the Reclining Buddha in “;Moving Through Transition,”; comprising hundreds of shots from the Tibetan conflict in Burma and Tibet. The images of Buddhist monks, nuns, riot police and soldiers, in often violent and bloody conflict, are cropped into 3-by-3-inch squares that serve as “;tiles”; of the photographic mosaic, which fills a gallery wall.

In his artist's statement, Bright discusses the parallels between the piece and the Buddha's call for courage with equanimity.

“;From a distance the work simply offers up a 16-foot Buddha, but upon closer inspection you see that (it comprises photographs that capture) ... painful events,”; he writes. “;Many are difficult to view alone, but when seen all together, it is meant as an image of redemption as much as one of depicted violence.”;

ASATO, MEANWHILE, gives new life to found objects as he explores the concepts of history, ambiguity and creativity.

Via paintings, a television installation and a hut, the work “;takes a critical view of social, cultural and domestic issues by collecting discarded objects from the streets that contain a pre-saturated history,”; he says in his artist's statement: “;I seek to confront the viewer with these common objects, juxtaposed in an unfamiliar context.”;

Asato employs formal techniques to create paintings on wood panel, composed of nontraditional material such as found paper, house and spray paints, vinyl spackle, acrylics and oils.

His hut is built with large pieces of cardboard, discarded window frames and scrap wood. When visitors step inside, an automatic light goes on. The interior walls are decorated with notes and drawings visitors leave using art supplies that are scattered across the floor.

Much of the point to this “;assemblage of fragments,”; according to Asato, is to create a setting where creativity and a new history can be established.

“;I find the ambiguity of daily life the most interesting approach for collecting ideas and objects,”; he says. “;I feel the greatest treasures are the ones hidden in plain sight.”;