Queensland Art Gallery Presscuttings Book 8 : Pressclippings, 1977-1981

Will to ai students A l,l1lt•,.. 4ecter le~ the hlk ot hl1 $117,126 11tet1 te the· Qu,.,..i. • 4 u.1.. n11, ••• • .......,, far at11u • t1 wh- •• the le • tHII 11 Olot I011Ueh, He wu Em1111t Binger, ,a, doctor or medicine and ol aclence, or I VY Street Indoorooplll:, who died lut March 29. Proba1e ol his wlll was lu ued In the Supreme Court yesterday. He le!L $43,501 realtv and $114,825 person&lty, In his will Dr. Sln- ,:~d l~~t '8af~~ ~~~~i hla ellects u the dir– ector considered aultable !or the Gallery. Cou rier Mall 2?nd . Oct. 1977 The Trustees Prize sec- ·ion could be called the lers' Brainstorm sec– Jon. Only one exhibit In It voked any response In me: Is was an exhibit of a lgeratte butt and a half– umed match 111th a scat– tering of ash. It reminded me of the Utter In the pub, aullocat– ng tn the smokers' section r a train or bu1, and ol unemptled ashIrays. The next section, The arvey Prize, aectlon, gave ou the atmosphere or a heap French bordello with SOME .AT 1 THE TOP AREN'T AL'l!HOUOH this ' year's $2,500 Truateea Prize was not acquisitive tt did not attract a much greater number or prominent artists than before. when the prize was acquis– itive. It might be wiser per– haps to raise the sum and let the Judge recom– mend oi,e or more works for acquisition. About 230 lnvltatlona went out, which brouaht reapo~ from 74 artlat.s, 551rom~d. It aeema quite a few artlstl, once they have reached tha top or the ladder, loee lnterelt In competltlona. the Art the Trustees Prize, and the Harvey Drawings this week. FOR COMPETING A new Iden or lm•ltlnti Art Colleges all over Aus– Lrallll to nominate three students each. for pnrLI• rlpv.tlon. 11101, with sparse rcspon!iie I one wonders why), ,, h·om Queens– land 01 The , or llvlng se- lected sl. 'ents opportun– llY was a good one, 1111 may be seen from some talented work here, An• nemarte Santorlk'• de• aervlna apeclal ment.lon. * or courae, the exhlbl• tlon doea not amount to a 1urvey. However, the overall standard ta better than on some previous occasions, and some highly regarded artists are represented. PoXy Night 2 by Janet Danon well deserved the prize awarded by Jame• Molll1111n. Dawson extracted & eeply felt essence rrom lived experience In the bush, to where she has wlil':e':;.'eometric ele- ment.,, which serve atruc– lUr'al, u well u symbolic purposes, a1·e rmbeddec~ In a surfnce natum lh bru, hed Into • rhythmic unlLY nnd n11 orernll fllck&r or gentle neu m1l 0 0 I O r x : wllh nbstrnct meuns ~he hn11 crentrd a mood or a rnoonllt night In I he bush. RS well " senoe of a space-time cont11uum. Next to t11e Dawson ban dS the painting which also c,iuld ha,ve been rtven the prize, namely Orban'a "Au• tumn" an ethereal Jand– acape1 evocation, • uperbly Integrated with ltl glit– tering silver ground. The a,and old man In his nineties never falls to surprise. Then we have Firth– Smith's "Around." where ererv sparse, secmfngJ~r nonchalant mark nwst make Its point on Ihe closed, brown surface, and docs; 1.ooby'• pack· aged "lst Ofa,;s," sho~•n before In Brisbane. AS was Marro Lewera han~– lng 11111 W, Rote'• "Sep• tember 7'1." .limes Meldrum's sun– ny-colorcd nrrnnsemc11t with magic boxes: the gl– nnL striking "Adidas" by Geoff La Gerche, which could l1111·e come straight from the exhibition Illu– sion and Reality: a pale, delicate "Darling Do1ms" by Fullbrool:; Peter row– d I t e h '• "Something W h I c h Seemed.'' the dellcate minimalism or which Is apolled by & •badly stretched canvas and unwanted "pimples." Vtrrlnla Cuppaldp sent from New York a geom etrlc colorlleld painting or Persian so– nority, nnd with tensions Introduced through subtle •hlfts from regu– larity. Flry stlltned colors lick Nevil Matthe11·•• cir• cu1ar rnn\'as. tan Smith shows a set of two dozen diversely done portraits, some more Interesting than others. Elizabeth Cummlnp' "Pandava" \\'Ith rich vis– ual and lacllle Interest would tra11slate well Into tapestry. There are other ~ '\..1, r :> , "77 r1tical ART REVIEW liv LI , Gertrude lj11ge1 accept&ble works. * * * The L. J, Haney Prize I or DRAWING, ron– currenUy on 1ie•·• ton• taln• 1tron1er "·ork than befON!, The prize, also awarded by Mollison, fell on reter Tyndall'• qaluleat, "Co· coons Art contained WIthin Conte" wllb !ta mlnl&ture speclmena rendered w!lb mln– l&turilltic finesse. However, there la tbe s t r o n g expressionistic dra •tng by Baldeula, from his M M series and the untitled one by Peter Booth, 11•here Ink and brush Is pushed Into 11alnterlJ• Immediacy and moody expressll'encss of course could be consider– ed more llll painting. But where then ere thl!, bor– derlines'/ There Is ,. good deal or \'arlety .here, both In techniques of drawln subject matter, and presslon. pure pornography, obscene and ialaclous, enough to turn your stomach, real public lavatory graffiti. I onJy saw onrren:1 dnuv– h1c, so much tor Umt. r ,e police Vice Squad sr JUld take a look. The third section was an exhibition or some or the gallery's own pictures, and a selection ol Mr. R<!es' lovely sketches 'l\'ell worth seeing. I wonder what the aelec– tor had In mind when he chOS<! these a w-tuJ pictures from the entries. There must have been many worthwhile ones to choose from. deter m In e d altempt degrade t.he minds of the vlewen; - S. V. Parker, Ol- 1eh Ill, Eno era. Th<1 Couriel' Mail Oct . 21s t , 1977 Jubilee fountain BRISBANE'S $431,000 Jubilee Fountain ha • ru • t problem • • Designer Mr. Robin Gibson 50id this yesterday and Works Deportment offlciols added that the fountain also f,od water pressure and wind trouble. The fountain in the river just up– stream from Victoria Bridge, Is parl of 1he $47 million cultural cenlre on tht 10uth bank. A Works Department spokesman said It had not been operating os planned since ils offjclal opening by lhe Queen on N10rch I I, during her Sliver Jubilee visit. He said, " We knew whim the foun– tain wos buih lhere would be problems. But we had to put it In ta find aul what they would be." ' Deportment officials who met yes– terday to discuss tho fountain sold lhe pumping plonl was bought from Switzer• land. It was meant for use In fresh water but had sucked in salt water ·When the Queen pushed the bullon to activate the nine-jet fountain ·ft went up 30 metres instead of the planned 75 metres. . Mr. Gibson sold the jet which reachtd the full height had operated only twice for testing. i • ···- ·· The fountain would be 1emoved for maintenance next week and grovel and rocks would be placed at Its base to pre• vent further scouring, he said. ''The 75.metre jet was not pa,t of the original design. We included II on S1ote Government request," Mr. Gibson old. : o ; I I t • The gallery wa, dMded Into three sectlo~. pure pornography, obscene and utacloua, enough to 1 turn your stomach, real ! public lavatory graffiti. 1 d et er m I n e d nttempt to dcgrRde the minds or the viewers - s. V, Parker1 GI· zeh SI, Eno11en,. Letters to the Editor B u I I d I n g Societies, now defunct. In a private enterprise society, which I believe Is . .. : . ' . The Trustees Prize sec– tion could be called ' the Doodlen;' Brainstorm aec– tlon. Only one exhibit In It evoked any response In me: this wu an exhibit of a cl1eratte butt and a half• burned match with a acat– tering of uh. It reminded me of the litter tn the pub, surrocat– lnr tn the smokerat section or a train or bua, and or unemptled uhtraya, The next aectlon, The Harvey Prize, section, pve you the atmcephere or a cheap Frtnch bordello with I only saw one real draw– ing, so much for that. The police Vice Squad should take a look. The third aecUon was an exhibition or some or the gallery's own pictures, and a selecUon or Mr. Rees' lovely sketches well worth seeing. I wonder what the selec– tor had In mind when he ·ch~e the,e awful pictures from the en.trJes. There must have beeh many worthwhile ones to choose from. des! , . ~,