Daniel Thomas : Newspaper writings

"TELEGRAPH" Sydney, N.S.W. 10 196b Young, old and middle-aged THERE'S a great deal of local art to be seen in Sydney at present - and some of it .is very good indeed. Besides "The Field" at the Art Gaiter! of New South Wales, there Is now the Trunsfield Prize at the Bonython Gallery and the Contemporary Art Society's 30th annual exhibition at Farmers' new 'Haglund Gallery (6th floor air- conditioned, a much better lift service than their old 9th -floor sweatbox Some of the artists re- appear in each of the three exhibitions, and it's in) °resting to see how they vary in quality. The paintings In the Transfield and in the Con- temporary Art Society by McGillic k, Christtnann, Rooney, Sza130, Noritis, Hickey, and Jelin White, all seem distinctly i-lter than their work 'r ..ite Field." One would dearly like to know whether conditions can be provided for artists where their wcrk Ian Im- prove. But it looks as if encouragement ani atten- tion certainly help. If the artists mentioned have improved in Use year since "The Field" was planned, perhaps "The Field" itself is a reason. It's not so much the distinction of being in- cluded for the first thne in a museum though this of course is something. Probably it's more a matter of the self-criticism possible after seeing a painting in the cnimany of its competitors, and in a larger rocm than the usual studio or dealer's gallery. Perhaps It's something to do with the exhibition of being part of a movement. Perhaps when you find yourself in what seems to be a mainstream you're bound to improve - at least for a little while after Joining it. Perhaps In some cases it's the exhilaration of making a beginning, of being on the threshold of a career of being young But since nobody stays young forever, and since no mainstream persists for- ever - 15 years has been suggested as a usual span - what happens to middle- aged artists. Even when their work remains good, it will inevit- ably become less visible. It simply won't be noticed as much once visual sensibili- ties have changed. But vets, often an artist does, in fact, become worse In middle age, onoe the buoyancy of youth and of shared Interests has gone. This has certainly been the case with some of our most admired Australian painters. Strton and Ro- erts both lost directio n an rid enthusiasm after the 1890s, that is when Streeton was in his mid 30s and Roberts in his mid 405, On the other hand, their contemporaries, Rupert Bunny and Phillips Fox, grew old without getting worse, and perhaps they got better. In the nationalistic 'period of Australian fed- eration, these two wanted to make Australians believe In the nobility of pioneer- ing and pastoralism, to make theft aware of the special qualities of Aus- tralian life and landscape. Bunny and Fox were less Interested in political or national purpose. They seem to be less thinking moralists than sensuous craftsmen, more concerned with their own delight in the senses of sight and touch than with other people's needs. The craftsman type of ART with Daniel Thomas artist can probably work in isolation better than an intellectual or moralistic one, for lie doesn't need the mental stimulus of other people as much as the physical stimulus of his own materials. And a final explanation for the decline of Roberts and Streeton was the fact that they worked in Aus- tralia, and that Australia then was too culturally underdeveloped to give a proper working environ- ment for an artist. This sad realisation of a community's failure in re- spect of its most valuable citizens came early this year, when the Art Gal- lery of New South Wales showed its entire holdings of Tom Roberts' paintings, not the careful?y selected best, and most of them were dull, boring. Let's hope the artists who are young in the 19008 are living In a better world (for artists) than those who were young in the 1890s. Some still have an ambition towards excel- lence and go to live in New York instead of Paris, like Meadmore. Nolan at least has the benefits of a new situation, living globally, constantly refreshing his Australian sensations and his Euro- pean level of quality as he moves across the world. But his art Is very in- d to on ward, anyway, not public, rpaintingselate whichste earlier repre- sented abstract objects in space. And a 30th birthday pre- sent from the CAS to the Australian public, Its first sight of a sculpture by Anthony Caro, currently the most influential sculp- tor in the world. It is an astonishing, "what next" kind of object, made of various steel ele- ments, each different, joined in unlikely places, levitating in mid air. It has every right to be the superb show-off that it is. At the Transfield Prize there was, it seems, some sort of mass rejection of middle-aged artists by the judges Donald Brook and Ross Lansell, and the mut- terings and screams about it are what prompted my remarks today. What's on view is a quite splendid exhibition, per- haps the best ever seen in the .Bonython Gallery, whose high corridor -spaces do not make Installing an exhibition easy. I would probably have given the same prize to Pearl, If I'd been judging. It's not all minimal ab- straction. a group of sweet children by Mirka Morn has crept In, a Tasmanian naive paints a copper -mine as it was In 1890. there Is is field of grass by James Cant, and a row of tempt- ing bananas by Donald La.ycock, some airborne washbowls by Guy Stuart, a space-age building by Senbergs. a romantic win- dow by Wallace-Crabbe. nil add a satisfactory note of surrealism. ..411.0411NP. .41.1.4.4^404, WHAT'S ON Art Gallery of New South Wales: Field"; European Muster Drawings; Sid- ney Nolan. Newcastle City Art Gallery: Contemporary Nordic Art. Ciunc: John Perceval (Tuesday). David Jones': Indian, Thai, Khmer sculpture. Education Depart- ment: Embroiderers' Guild (Tuesday). Farmers: CAS, 30th Annual exhibition and Kolotex Prize. Macquarie: Elizabeth Rooney, Desmond Digby (Wednesday Central Street: Dick Watkins, Walters: James Clif- ford ( Wednesday). Stern: Mixed Show. Bonython: Transfieid Prize; Len Castle pots; John Karnpfner scalp - Lures; American posters. !lemon: Len French. Galleries Pricaltif: Eskimo carvings. Frances Jones. John Watts. 6 Latvia Aye., Green - acre: Judith Pins (10- 10 today,. Canberra Theatre Gallery: Lawrence Davis. Von Berlotieb, New- castle: Mixed illoar. and thus closer to those who have survived middle - age better than Streeton or Roberts-their contem- porary McCubbin, or more recent painters like Ralph Balson, Godfrey Miller, Grace Cossington Smith, who all painted very priv- ate experiences, not public, nationalistic ones. Among all the younger artins whose work seems, and indeed Is, so good in this week's exhibitions, there aren't many survivors Into middle age. In the Translield, Rapotec is one, Cassab another. In the CAS there are more, plus three who are distinctly old garde and well worth looking at - Orbnit, Szigeti and Weaver Hawkins. All three began their careers long before they reached Australia, which may be their advan- tage. All three, curiously, are gouging rather similar wavy lines (like wriggle - work on metal) into their boards or their sheets of paper. I don't know what significance thi might have, Waugh ceitainly it preventd the look if facility which threatens most mature artists; it preserves the look of questing, of exploration. Perhaps it influenced my choice of the $1000 Kolotex prize-winner, Tony Coleing, for his floor-sculpture of wire and aluminium was similarly wanderihg, un- predictable and un-faiine, I might as easily Lay», given the prize to Robert- son -Swann for his painted steel floor-sculpture of great certainty and thrust, or to John Peart's actively pulsing field of green and violet smudges, smaller but similar to his $1000 Trans - field prize-winner. Also to note at Farmers, a style-change by Aspden, who now suspends scattered trapezoids In a very tangible deep space, unlike his recent flat stripes, but