Daniel Thomas : Newspaper writings

Art in Archi- tecture, at the Dominion, is an exhibition of samples to tempt those clients who want to decorate big buildings, of- fices, shops, IP churches - but not houses. On the evidence of the exhibition the available talent for architectural - scaled paintings is much sup- erior to that for sculp- tures, reliefs, tiles and other decorative fea- tures. The large paintings by Coburn, Gleghorn, Lynn and MlIgate (his "Credenda" from the Rubinstein) would look fine In any modern in- terior. And unlike the built -fu ornaments they can easily be sold and replaced if you grow tired of them. Flugelman's entries caused me a journey to Kensington to inspect his sculpture now In- stalled in a courtyard of the University of N.S.W.'s Goldstein building. This is the only building of any distinction on that love- lessly run-up campus, on which, thankfully, a few trees are beginning to grow, The sculpture was commissioned after a Kiippel, suggested by the architect, had been rejected because It might rust. (I should guess it would have -rusted very prettily in- deed; but surely rust protection would have been a simple project for the chemistry de- partment?). Fl ugel- man's piece is a row of . sausagery upright forms close -standing but un- aware of each other for all its organic deriva- tion totally unorganic as a sculpture. The photograph in the ex- hibition flatters it. A tree would have been much better, and doubtless cheaper. All prospective scut pture clients might tame and consider whether a tree would do :he required job. Meanwhile, for those big -city sites where a tree clearly won't do they might also consider Stephen Walker, not in this exhibition, and whose recent arrival to live in Sydney must have been aye `,toked. The exhibition, be- sides sculptures and paintings, has an in- dustry making enter- taining use of its own product In Phillips mural, by Ostolo-Kot. kowski, of colored lights in perpetual motion be- hind an enormous glass wall. Cyclamens, yellows and greens, wave slowly and seaweedly. Ostojo also has a small moving picture where a hard- edge circular motif ..eternally ripples out- wards through rainbow colors. These two are wonderfully soothing. There is a beautiful set of plain chum' silver by the Larsen. LEN FRENCH Leonard French's paintings look as if the Komon Gallery's recent remodelling was dons especially for them. But then French has always had architectural lean- ings. His painted mural In a Melbourne coffee bar is the Jest I know in Australia: while his separate naintinos have always looked less good on their own, or in the rough-and-tumble of a big exhibition, or in a compulsively crowded private collection. than when .. carefully placed "TELEGRAPH" Sydney, N.S.W. itf , 1965 Architecture and Art in an architectural set- ting. One Is enshrined in a niche above some Georgian furniture in the colonial Macnuarie Field House (illustrated in a recent Vogue Aus- tralia); another, a cir- cular one, is .n the ceil- ing of a country dining - room, another in Syd- ney hangs alone on a Vast expanse of dull silver wall. These are the occasions when French Is stunning; they reveal him as a superb decorative painter in the best sense of complementing and fulfilling an archi- tectural interior. With them in mind I can never get much from a Len French if it's small. The current The week in art By Daniel Thomas exhibition of small studies, painted on the Greek island of Samoa in 1963, shows his fami- liar translucent depths and reliefs, his strongly geometric, chunk y forma. It shows a few unfamiliar landscapes making use of white Byzantine domes against the wine -dark sea. But separated from their neighbors and from their sym- pathetic setting - far better than when I saw the exhibition in Mel- bourne early this year -they might not be much more than sou- venirs of Len French. Or, dissatisfying in their smallness, they would surely incite their owner into getting something bigger later on LARTER Richard Larter's paintings (Watters Gal- lery) might be classified as poptical cop or as coptical pop, with their simultaneous use of op, pop and cop art ele- ments. The op comes in the free moire pat- tern background, flash- ing red and blue, in "Cliche"; the pop in the same pictures girl In girdle and bra who mocks corniest sexy poses. The strippers of the "Stripperama" ser- ies have some of the What's Art Gallery of N.S.W.: Special exhibition - Chinese Ceramics, last week. David Jones: Thai and Khmer sculpture. Farmers: Sydney Printmakers' annual ex- hibition. Chine: Contemporary American, Japanese, European prints. Dominion: "Art In Architecture." Macquarie: Elaine Heston, paintings. Darlinghtmit: Paul Haenigrr. paintings 1656-57, Watters: Richard Haefliger, 'paintings Stern: Wolfgang De- gcnhardt, paintings and drawings, Gallery A: Charles Reddington. paintings. Konum: Leonard French, small paint- ings. same commercial orig- in -6. But it's the cop art. subject matter that's the main thing. If you want nudes they don't come under or nicer or better drawn (dram' in trickles of enamel paint, I'm told from a hypo- dermic syringe). There are also some less in - t eres Ling abstracts, though one at leas t seems made from lips of all sorts. He is a Norman Lind- say for our time, except that ho seems more na- turally and direct'', involved with sex, where Lindsay seemed to pro- test too much and took his sex from history not reality. He draws more sensitively and deigns more interestingly than Lindsay: the "Stripper- amas" have progress- ive rhythms both across the picture surface as the blonde heads bob, and also thrustingly into space for the equal -width strip con- e a in different -scaled girl -portions, some closer to the spectator. some further. This looks like a wild avant-garde exhibition but it's b:Ileally very traditional, and vary accessible. It's a first one-man show (as meat of Wai- ters' have been so fart and not a single dud amongst them, which must be unique for a Sydney gallery), tarter, born 1929 arrived here in 1962 from England after a short spell in Algeria. Thirteen paint- ings, 50 to 125 guineas, some very large. ORIGINAL PRINTS The Sydney Print- makers' annual exhibi- tion at Farmer's is tile year's best chance to see Australian etchinp, woodcuts. lithographs, serigraphs, etc. The usual. HAXTON Elaine Hasten (Mac- quarie) has always shown an admiration for Fairweather, and now submits almost en- tirely to him; his Chin- ese subjects, his 1930s style (Flower Bridges and Dragon Cuntry), 1951 style (Duck Farm- er), and 1983-84 style (Three Pools), They are flimsier, and more decorative, but the nearer to Fairweather: the better they are., "Evening Wallow," one of the best, has a nice humor, 23 paintings, 30 to 250 guineas. on in art Dowling Gallery, 354 Dowling Street, Pad- dington (New Gallery): Japanese woodcuts. The Stables, Pymble: Bissietta, drawings and monotypes. Von Bertouch, New- castle: Ray Crooke, paintings. Crane, Wollongong: Guy Warrsn, oils and watercolors. OPENING MONDAY Hungry Horse: Em- anuel Raft, jewellery. Commonwealth day - Ines Bank, Martin Place: Robin Hood Art. Prize. OPENING TUESDAY Little Gallery: Edith Holmes, paintings. Canberra Macquarie: Rodney Milgatc, paint- ings. OPENING FRIDAY Drummoyne Torn Hall: Drummoyne Art Society, Annual Art Award. * ' 4