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

The courier- ha i l 10 April 19 b4 11{.&rls and Enlerlalnmen~ Agallery of abstracts THE exhibition Twelve Aus– tralian Painters, on view at the Queensland Art Gallery, demonstrates clearly lhe healthy survival of the ab– slracl tradition. . But mosl q[.. !,he painters do not insist oriilie pure object– hood of the painting itself; they arc inspired by the world around and within, and expect to arouse associations and emo– tions. All of the 12 are in their mid– ea recr (they were born in the 1930s and I9405), except Roger Kemp, the doyen . All of them are well known . Only one of them, Brian Blanchnower has never exhibited in Brisbane. The splendid exhibition has been organistd by lhc Art Gal– lery of Western Australia and looks so well on the walls of ours. A c,alaloguc with helpful notes on the artists' works is available. ·Each of them is represented with t~rce of his Art Review which is vi t I, inimitable ~nd latest paintings, and most of Paul Partos' splendid paint- these are of large format. ings all have a large central in- hard to describe. Dadd Aspden reacted to his set (a painting within a paint– recent experience of India with ing), which seems to detach i1 - a bs1 racts, dancing with thc rav- self from it s les s active ishing colors of saris. surround but is held back by the Sydney Ball's impressive new latter's color intensity and vi - work is full of primal power. brancy. Peter Clark's lyrical works John Firth Smith shows his - where liberated colors are recent New Yori. paintings put down with increased spon- where we "skate" with him taneily and arc allowed to ex- from point to point through a press simultaneously light, wintry atmosphere. space, substance and mood - Janet Daw!IOn extends her arc masterful achii:vcments. spatial ambiguities to a cornbi- Robert Jaclu, continuing his nation of actual and virtual dght, angular geometric con- three-dimensionality of the im– slructions, now lays ~realer age, as well as juxtaposing ab– stress on experiments·wnh col- stracted landscape and a natur– or. His paintings proceed from alistically painted frogmouth a mufned general tone toa har- owl. It is a striking, poetica l mony of agreeable juxtaposi- work. lions to risky discordant John Pearl incl udes the di- clashes. mcnsion of time in his multi- Ken Wbisson navigates a layered rhythmic progrc.'iSions. shoreless sea of membry fr_qfT! I have praised these works bc– pi~tograph ~o J>!ctograph, 1;f)d ··;rofi,·Blaclc on Black iuhe'mosl has a way with hne and placin~•-rcmatkable. . · I &free with Anthony Bond, Jhe ,911rator of the exhibition, .~lvlib slates that Michael John- .. son makes the most gutsy for– mal al?'tracts ever produced in ~u~1ralia. The monumental, gloomy nocturnes of Brian Blan– chOower have a spine-chilling resonance. This English artist who has adopted Australia is now one of our most powerful painters. Roger Kemp's recent work, of course continues his concern with 1°hc cosmic order . His Movement Tf.ree, contrasting with his hieratic, stained glass– like Dark Column.f, shows spi– dery-linear constellations noat– ing across a loosely brushed, pale ground. -Dr GERTRUDE LANGER His last great landscapes A SHOWING of the work of Fred Williams, regarded as the greatest of contemporary Australian painters, will open at the Queensland Art Gal– lery tomorrow. Along with Hans Heysen , Russell Drysdale and Sidney Nolan, Williams is said to have helped shape the Australian consciousness of how the put- back is perceived. t- nc Pilbara Series, commis– aione4(tom Williams before his . dealhl-in L982, l~dea what _.,.~n"y'-~er to t!e big· finest :· WC!c-ii•. . •