That is the big question which springs to mind after seeing Keighley Arts Factory's new exhibition.

From a flying supermarket trolley to a row of dolls' arms on a table, this is a big departure from its two-part inaugural exhibition.

From an exhibition of work by local community groups KAF has moved to professional contemporary art.

And these five - Richard Paton, Terry Perk, Gloria Rhodes, Stuart Jones and Howard Ramsay - all cut a striking dash.

Hebden Bridge-based artist Howard Ramsay's centrepiece is a levitating blue net canoe.

He says it is about "wanting to disappear."

And its translucent appearance gives it a strange ethereal quality.

The maritime theme of his work stems from his family's two generations of shipbuilders.

But apart from the canoe, his glassed-cased shells, material and bric-a-brac pieces fail to communicate.

They bear a closer resemblance to a lost property collection.

Gloria Rhodes's corner is a warm, softly lit haven to the exhibition's starker elements. The theme is "motifs for the body and changes," says the Leeds-based artist.

Items include a row of arms - one, a plaster cast from Gloria's arm, the others like dolls' arms - in decreasing size.

Gloria's work is conceptual - more about her thoughts and feelings than artistic technique.

But to many the meanings maybe lost.

A collection of suitcases and dolls' limbs on the top shelf of a wardrobe makes sense when explained.

But the artist's printed statement does not spell it out.

If Gloria's work is slightly confusing, Terry Perk's is downright baffling.

The Kent-born artist teaches secondary school art at Blackpool.

He says: "There is a level of meanings that influence the activity that goes on in a space."

One activity is a row of electronic magnets set on timers, connected to speakers.

The result is a random drum machine effect - ingenious, but looking like KAF's wiring needs attention.

Two sets of black and white prints show a suited man and a semi-naked one holding a spirit level in different positions. This is apparently about concepts of space and gravity, but forms a rather comical storyboard.

Wigan-born artist Stuart Jones is obsessed with architecture.

His work reflects this fascination and the poetry he sees in the lines of skyscrapers.

Based in Leeds, he hopes to eventually work in New York to be near its buildings.

His large canvasses of oil and marker pen capture perspective and light in a simplistic form.

Varying the shade and width of his black lines gives a sense of distance.

And Turner, an inspiration to Stuart, is evident in his atmospheric skies.

Looking up at the skyscrapers from Stuart's neck-cricking angles, one's eyes need shielding from his sun.

But Richard Paton's headline status is well deserved.

The artist lives in London, but grew up in Long Lee and was a pupil at Greenhead school.

Though it is not his local links that put him at the top of the pile, his work is intelligent, innovative and powerful.

Madonna of the Shopping Trolley is a supermarket trolley decorated with stained glass, with wings, and her offspring, a similarly adorned basket.

It states Paton's theme - consumerism, the new religion.

"For me it is important to make precise images and do away with too many complications," he says.

And he achieves just this, with a little dry wit.

His giant plaster of Paris Tibetan Paupers' Prayer wall would make an unwieldy mantelpiece ornament, but that is not the point.

It is Buddhist tradition to carve pictures of one's hopes and dreams.

To westernise this, Paton took items from an Argos catalogue, illustrated them and had a friend provide Tibetan translations.

His Tibetan flags follow the same idea, but he applied the images using soot scraped from car and lorry exhausts.

And 70% Water has to be seen to be appreciated.

A row of glass test tubes half-filled with water does not appear to have any artistic merit. But Paton's humour and ingenuity is in the labels.

Anyone unsure about conceptual art should start here. Everything will become clear.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.