If the exhibitions at Ovada so far, Hypersurface: Painting in a Virtual World is probably my favourite. The only challenge I have is that writing about paintings, or flat art' as my friend affectionately calls it, is... well... challenging.

When it comes to the Old Masters, one can talk about symbolism 'til the cows come home, but modern paintings are harder to decipher.

So I will attempt to give the deep and meaningfuls a miss, and just tell you about what I actually saw.

According to the literature I was given, the exhibition features artists who have taken process painting into the 21st century by engaging with the flattened visual space of digital media'.

There are 13 works on display, from eight artists, and my personal number one was a £31k image made from hand cut vinyl on Perspex, by Ian Monroe. (What can I say?; I have expensive taste).

The piece is intricate in every manner.

At first glance and from a distance, it looks like a glossy digital print that has been produced using a computer.

However, when you get up close and personal, you sense the huge amount of work that has gone into producing it.

The image creates an amazing illusion of space, leading the viewer through varying perspectives and dimensions. There are cryptic digital letters which form words and, I am told, even sentences.

The friendly gallery assistant informed me that one sentence reads the solar party that becomes us'.

All very philosophical and slightly hippy-dippy brilliant!

I stood for a while trying to work out the other supposed sentence, and I'm sorry to say I failed. I challenge you to decipher it.

Another particular favourite was Danny Rolph's psychedelic collages Atomic 20 and Perceval, created using vibrant colour combinations that reminded me of something a nu-rave clubber would throw up at the end of a night out.

I mean that in a very affectionate way, because I loved their bright 80s style, collaged and reconfigured using bold printed imagery and hand drawn elements.

Diann Bauer's Bloodspiller 5 mixes the old with the new.

The pencil drawing references paintings of Greek warriors at war, with horses and men tumbling together in a mosh-pit style orgy. However, this image is modernised by what looks like yellow lighting bolts, cartoon style puffs of smoke emerging from the heap of bodies, and spears piercing through the ample flesh. Slightly hard to stomach, but I enjoyed it!

Another exhibition I would recommend seeing before it closes is Serendipity at the O3 Gallery, by artist and photographer Susan Bonham.

On display is a collection of contemporary abstract photographic prints.

A majority of the work combines several extreme close-up photographs of found surfaces and textures from the built environment, which are taken out of context and then composed in a grid structure.

She photographs decaying signage, crumbling paint and graffiti in such a way that these elements come together as photographic mosaics in total harmony.

At times it's hard to believe that these prints are actually photographs. The assemblages appear almost like paintings themselves, exotic in colour and texture.

Hurry to see this, as it closes its doors on Sunday.

On another note, a potential date for your diary is the private view of 1st 3 NO Flash at Lolapoloza Gallery tonight (July 4) between 5.30-8pm.

The exhibition will feature music photography by Marc West, a graduate of Plymouth College of Art & Design, who has worked as a live reporter on Oxfordshire's weekly live music show on 95.2FM BBC Oxford.

With local knowledge that's second to none, Marc also supplies the Oxford Mail, Nightshift, NME and BBC 6 Music with his engaging images.

This event also coincides with Artisjustaword's eighth birthday, which promises to be fantastic, with live music from The Epstein, Robin Bennett, Piney Gir, Morrison Steam Fayre and Tristan & The Troubadours, plus free Carling to boot*! (*while stocks last!).

If you can't make the preview the show will run until July 31, but I wouldn't miss this for the world!

Hypersurface: Painting in a Virtual World - OVADA, 21 Gloucester Green, Oxford, OX1 2AQ Until July 12. Closed Sun & Mon. Open Tues- Fri 10am-5pm and Sat 11am-4pm. www.ovada.org.uk

Susan Bonham: Serendipity - O3 Gallery, Oxford Castle, Oxford, OX1 1AY. Until Sunday July 6. Closed Mondays. Open Tues - Fri 12-5pm; Sat & Sun 11am-4pm. www.o3gallery.co.uk

1st 3 NO Flash - Lolapaloza Gallery, Blue Boar Street, Oxford, OX1 1DL. Until July 31. Open 10am-5.30pm Mon-Sat. www.artisjustaword.org