Queensland Art Gallery Presscuttings Book 10 : Record of press coverage, March 1982 - May 1984

Townsville dr.aws t e artists A CULTURAL desert Is blossoming. No fewer than six art exhibitions are on display In Townsville, ranging from International and Interstate shows to local art and craft. Among the local exhibitors is Peter Lawson, who made a name for himsclr as an illustrator of books on regional history. In his paintings of outback landscapes he sticks to the conventional style of hi1 book illustrations. That local art is capable of better is proved in an uhibition of pottery by Connie Hocdt, who has gained interna– tional merits in winning a Fletcher Brownbuilt Award in New Zealand in 1981, and had her series of "Microcos– tnos" exhibited at the Craft Council Gallery in Brlsbane during-April this year. In her recent work, she e1tpcriements with the efrccta of fire and ashea on un• &lazed porcelain. A series of ceramic sculptures called "The Dancers'', which iYUcd on the bottle form with added tl• reminding of thrown-over apron,, cannot quite match the econo– my and intuitive strength reached in the "Micr0eotm01" series. To11noir'1 MaJnetic House Gallery presents a selection of works by artists who ijvc in the Cape York area, among them Heinz and Evelyn Steinmann, and CbllClk Kehoe. Art - Some of the ·exhibit, provoke the question, how far can.art compromise with the (anticipated) public t11te be· fore it losa its identity, or, more blunt• ly speaking, liow alick can art act be· fore it turns into 'kitsch?' Heinz Stein• mann's sweet tropical dreama for suburban bedrooms have definitely crossed the Ooor. Canadian-born aculptor Chuck Kehoe'• creations could be ao aoocl, if the artist would only foraet about the naturalistic cxcuaa. Rouahsey'a lovely little scenes or Abori&1 nal daily life, and Percy Trczisc's .!npretentious landscapes remain the only paintings in the Far North Show that convey agen• uine feclina for the country. Against this background, "Fabric and Form", the CJ1cellcnt display of new British textile artwork; appcan to have come from outer apace. One has to kocp in mind that it is only since the CS• tablishment of the Tucker RcJional Gallery pne year ago that exhibitions or such quality and actu~lity are reached in the city; and the sheer fact is still stunning. The e1hibition, curated by Michael Brenniind•Wooicf'on bchatr or the Brit• ish Council ~nd.'Q'l'Janiscd by the Queensland.Art-Oallcry, features art in · tcxtilcnaOicr ,thin (catile art, created by aomc or Britain', top artills, crafu– mcn as well u paintcn. It is the best ahow we've ever had here. The "Australian Scrccnprints", also on display at the Tucker Regional Gal– lery, aruliahtly ovcnhadowcd by their ovcr1e11' competiton, which docs not mean that it i, not a ~ood exhibition in its own right. Artists included arc Syd• •ncy Ball, Alun Leah-Jones and John Coburn. Ray Arnold and Sally Robin on provide intcrcstina landscapes: ArnNd more in formal respect by making use of the raster and cut techniques of com • mercial printmaking, Robinson by in• vcstigating the touristic aspects or Aus– tralia's gem No. 2, The Olga,. I waa also imprcascd with Mandy Martin's sinister "FactoriC5", which emerge only slowly (so to speak), on the second glance, out of expressive strokes and zig-zag lines. There arc also two displays or– ganised by the Quccl)sland Art Gal• lcry's Extension Exhibitions Program. "Dyina Fibre a11d Ftbric" is a wel• come supplement to the "Fabric and Form" ellhibition. and draws attention to some technical aspects of modern textile work. "Art in Sport", arranged in association with The Courier-Mail, shows some ellccllcnt examples of pho• tojournalism, including many interns• tional award winners. -ANNA BOCK A sweeter taste OuEENSLANDERS are entitled to be proud of architect Robin Gibson and the art gallery that won him the Sir Zelman Cowen Award for Australia's most out– standing building of the year. The award has come to Queensland for the first time, and it Is surely proof that this state is as capable of excellence as any other. There is some irony in its announcement at a time when there is public ferment over the destruction of that well-loved building, Cloudland. It should leave a sweeter taste In Queens– land mouths than that lamentable event. · ...