Daniel Thomas : Newspaper writings

"TELEGRAPH" Sydney, N.S.W. 141 llllllllllllll H111111111111 iiiiiiiii 11111111 iiiiii III iiiiiii 1111 iiiiiii 1111111111111 iii SALI HERMAN, "The Cone Mountain," Darlinghurst Galleries. A new look at New Guinea Sali Herman's first exhibition for four years is at the Darlinghurst Galleries, and has a mixture of delights and disappointments. The disappoint- ments are, as is usual with this artist, the big exhi- bition pieces; the deli ghts are the smaller and simpler canvases. Last year, after nearly 20 years, he revisited New Guinea and the new subje is inspired the present show. His greatest excitement was a huge gathering of tribes, masked and painted for their dances. Violent movement is not the happiest of sub- jects for an artist whose 3 special gift is stillness, gi nor are the gaudy colors 2. and harsh contrasts of the masks and weapons I the kind that this lyri- cal colorist would nor- mally choose. The best figure sub- jects then are the groups of seated widows icovered in mud?). The still tiles of fruit have 1 the same plump stin- g' ness. And best of all are the landscapes with buildings-that Ls, land- scapes with something solid in them, as the windows and the fruit are solid. CONNOR Kevin Connor (Mac - '3 (inane. is much Im- proved. At his first ap- pearance he was sus- piciously slick; in the past year or so he has worn a cloak of expres- sionist clumsiness. Now he is fluent again, which one suspects is natural to him, but not too much so. The result is very like Nolan; early Nolan heads as are sometimes seen in Melbourne, late E Nolan landscapes of Africa as were seen re- cently in Adelaide. Maybe Connor travels a out of. Sydney, mon its ohly.eolncidenbal..In a soy oast, the, similarity i-nciesn't ...13111t4AC... Ate 9 schemes might be sitni- i '.5 The week in 1t Qv B Daniel Thomas tar, but the artist pre- sents a much rougher world than the always vulnerably tender. gentle, innocent world of Nolan. DOMINION The Dominion's pre- view, in its remodelled premises, of items from several 1965 exhibitions was topped by a superb i Picasso lithograph of a circus scene. Also Lym- burner, Knit,. (who is due back in Sydney this weekend after eight years in Amica), Tucker (whose exhibi- tion opens Tuesday), and Louis James amongst others. NEW GALLERY At 23a Avalon Parade, Avalon, Is a new gallery, the Quixote, director Mr. Alan Taylor. I have not visited It, but the catalogue of their cur- rent exhibition of draw- g I..gs and prints indi- rates an excellent :4 standard. -(171, ^s on In art Art Gallery of N.a.v.. Special exhibitions: Ac- quisitions for 1984. Pot- tery by Shoji Hamada. LAST DAY. Chine: Charles Black- man, paintings, draw- ings, collages. Gallery A: Colin Lanceley, assemblages, lithographs. Darlinghurst: Sal 1 Herman, New Guinea paintings. Stern: David Sch- lunke, and othe r painters. Lenthall, N. Sydney: Terry Williams, paint- ings. Fourmet, N. Sydney: Leslie Campbell, wa:er- colors, Quixote, Avalon : Drawings and prints. I Von Berlouch, New- g castle: Max Feuerring, paintings. OPENING TUES-1 DAY: Dominion: Alberti Tucker, paintings. Hungry Horse: Robin Welch, pottery. Little Gallery: Lorna Prendiville, paintings, pastels. Crane, ,Vollongong: Geoffrey Hooper, paint- ings. OPENING WEDNES- DAY: David Jones: Fine and decorative arts. Waiters: Bill Harter, wooden bowls. Macquarie: Mixed Easter show. 1111 iiiiii II iiiiiiii 11111111 llllllllll 1111111111111111111111111111111111 lllllll 1 llllllllll 1111111111111111111111 MELBOURNE ART GALLERY Leading Melbourne Gallery in Ideal position requires affiliation with Sydney Gallery of standing. Full details to right person, contact - - - Director, 277 Toorak Road, SOUTH YARRA.