Daniel Thomas : Newspaper writings

"TELEGRAPH" Sydney, N.S.W. oung artists come home THE sculptures of Ron Robertson -Swann and the paintings of Michael Johnson arc unusually good specimens of the recent revolution in Australian art. 'he artists themselves are typical of a new situ- ation, too; both only in their late 206 and return- ed to Gydney with long formative years in Lon- don already behind them. Swann in fact achieved as much attention In the in- ternational magazines se any Australian has ever had. Both are intelligent, passionate and ambitious for their a r t, Mullett Swann Is the more Intel- lectual and Johnson the more romantic. Swann shows eight paintings .with his three sculptures at the Komon Gallery, premises most handsomely transformed by their first Installation of new abstraction on an environmental scale. (Oddly Mr. Komon was condemning the entire movement two months ago. as shown In the National Gallery of Victoria's ex- hibition "The Field" which included Robertson -Swann. Individuals may be judged adversely, but movements cannot; the mere fact of a movement's existence presupposes merit within His paintings look just the way paintings are sup- posed to look today - large, flat, colorful. Ex- cept the dramatic widen- lhg of "Brown Bomber' they are all di- vided by diagonal crosses and somewhat resemble flags. Ironic titles occur like "Union Henry." "Union Fred"; and "Pink Alice" has no pink. The color areas are very firmly divided by white bands of raw canvas and the Inter- action of the colors doesn't seem especially in- teresting. Rather it is the act of delineation, the dividing, the articulation. which seems to interest Swann, and perhaps he really belongs In the classi- cal stream concerned with drawing, not the romantic one concerned with color. For although his steel sculptures are painted, each carries only one col- or: "Beethoven' is lime yellow, "Low slung jade" is green, Transnewfleld" is pink. They well damatise the interaction of lines and planes, their jointing, their contact, their changes of direction, the fact of their distinct separateness from each other. These works, where color 1,s not very relevant except to die - embody the objects, to re- duce the association with the literal weight of steel, are the successful ones. They were made at the Transfield foundry In Syd- ney, and may be less finely welded than those made in London. All sorts of unlikely' art movements have claimed to present new "realism" and new "humanism," and I wonder whether the dif- ferences 1n merit we dis- cern between similar works of art relate to the differences between exer- cises in line or color on tbe one hand, and the ar- tist's experiences of some- thing real in nature on the other hand. Certainly the spectator can ens 'y ex- perience a Robertson - Swann sculpture as the track one's eyes might locus upon as they pass over and among objects, or as She track one's body might follow as It climbs, hops, rolls, walks. Michael Johnson's un- commonly beautiful exhi- bition at Gallery A might look precise, but Stan Rapotec saw through hint at once: "Hard-edge Roth- ko," that Is warm, roman- tic. It is smooth, not stac- cato. Significantly the one painted steel sculpture ap- pears to be made only by continuous bending, not by have associations, too, if one Is to take notice of the bunch of cornflowers he has placed In the gallery among so many blue paint- ings. Indeed he admits to an intimate knowledge and admiration of Margaret Preston's flowers. Another of one's favorite Australian painters, David Davies is also important for hint, and may, have contributed something to Johnson's in- timate mood, gentle, loving handling of surfaces, and delicacy of tonal relation- ships. His sensuous pleasure In craftsmanship is so evident that one imagines these canvases might be made with the same sort of contentment women can show when sewing. Some WHAT'S ON Art Gallery of New South Wales: European master drawings, per-, manent collection. Newcastle City Art Gallery; NBN3 art prize. Von Bertouch, New- castle: Lloyd Rees (closes tomorrow); Donald Friend (Fri- day). David Jones: Charles Blackman, Alice in Wonderland. Farmers: Mixed show for new gallery. Macquarie: Jus tin O'brien. Central Street: Dick Watkins (Wednesday). Wailers: Stephen Earle (Wednesday). Stern: Frank Hinder. Gallery A: Michael Johnson. Bonython: Carl Plate, Geoffrey Dance, Barry Brickell. Ramon: Flaht Robert- son-Swann. Frances Jones: Fran- ce!, Jones, Yvonne Praneart. Gallery Primitif: West Irian art. Artarmon: John Rowell (Tuesday). Ryde Chic, Centre: Hyde art exhibition. Workshop Arts Cen- tre: Student Potters. Anne Galleries: Ex- hibition of Australian tapestries. ~0.4~441,04, ART with Daniel Thomas works are gentle, like the loveliest, ca led "Gentle." Others are ravage like the long narrow horizontal "Zipper," whose nasty out- size teeth chomp swiftly along the wall. Some, mostly the dark ones, are successful others are not. There is a great deal going 'on-moonlight, flow- ers, aggression, tenderness. homage to great modern artists, affection for local artists of the past. These "hard-edge" paintings are about much more than line, color and form. BLACKMAN Charles Blackman first read "Alice In Wonder - welding separate elements land" at the late age of together. The 12 paintings 21, and in Melbourne in all have deep stretchers, 1956 painted 40 pictures of no frames, and they pro- which 36 are now at David ject out from the wall en- Jones. Despite the obvious ough to be read as can- use of Chagall, Nolan, and vas reliefs. Some combine apparently some Germans, several canvases, side by Cespite the awkwardness side, or -dace additional by comparison with today's canvas "p lank s" o r suavities, one loves this "boards" on the surface of bit of local art history. the first. Like Ron Lam- Alice is very conscious of bert's recent collages one her body and the objects is decidedly conscious of It touches, and wherever the literal presence of one her consciousness is direct - color behind another, only ed the body -part or the here it Is not a matter of object grows, shrinks, flies, paper color-planes, but detaches Itself. She be - rather comes all shoe, all neck: solid canvas color blocks. l trace of a table lose all swell, legs under a Johnsmn uses many other body above. Blackman may resources than line and outline. His color works. have come to more settled He creates mass and weight terms with the flesh, but by means of area, idlite this year he was still de - and color as well as literal volume. His colors y Pleting its tactile sensa- tions, either placidly bath- ed in sunshine or sliding through night surf, FIRE Barry Brickwell (Bony - then Gallery) is an excel- lent New Zealand potter who makes large salt - glazed earthenware crocks, bowls, jugs and "fatso Jugs" of simple form and speckled surface. The tech- nique Is the same as for common drainpipes. They are cheap and highly de- sirable. One is pleased to read that he began as a childh ood pyromaniac. Which prompts me to re- commend an Australian novel about which I've long felt missionary: Peter Mather's "Trap" tells of a pyromaniac, his vice due to a great -granny picked up in (of course) Tierra del Fuego, and who has several grandparents casu- ally incloerated, plus Bel - main timber yards, and welder mates at Wollon- gong; all written Into a strongly flame -like spiral structure. FAMILIAR Also at Bonython, 94 Paintings, a screen'Irint and a lithograph by ',aril Plate, the prints an(' most of the paintings maue :his year las Paris. His flunill,.r muscular integuments have become a little tr. o r e like machine parte, latter planes are used to make vignetted trophies which he calls "Monuments." But he has not changed much, he has only got better. The lithograph is very fine. "Caribbean 3", no doubt by chance, recalls the tropical dark blue, white and crim- son of certain Winslow Homer watercolors. Geoffrey Dance (Bony- then) hos some background in advertising Illustration, does scrlbbly figure draw- ings and Australian land- scapes, makes references to designs for a double -page spread and for round - cornered television screens. Skilful, shallow, inexpens- ive, Justin O'Brien (Mac- quarie) brings back from the Mediterranean 41 drawings, studies and mPaiiintedtin.g3Du. stlebluies angdreaaattly- mon landscapes largely re- place the vivid Byzantine colors and the a/aerate sequences of interior spaces. awe regrets the re- laxation,