Daniel Thomas : Newspaper writings

"TELEGRAPH" Sydney, N.S.W. LL 12 of Sydney's " established gal- leries are now open for business again after their usual summer shut -down. Three more new gal- leries have appeared since last season, and a fourth is due to open soon. This year, only John Kerr's is a real debut. Some galleries have preferred to put on a typical sample of their usual goods-mune the best, David Jones, Stern, gallery A, Kamen. Others are showing young artists who have recently changed stables. Zotrea, now at Bony- thon, was with the Mac - quark last year. De Groen has moved to Bonython from Walters. Oldfleld, having his sec- ond show at Central Street, also began at Wat ters. It. looks as If Walters makes most of the orig- inal discoveries. What about Walters' current launching? John Kerr today would be called an ex- ponent of Funk Art. We didn't have the term eight years ago, nor did we have an "Under- ground," but the 1901 group which he rattier resembles did name themselves the Subter- ranean Imitation Real- ists. Michael Brown was member, and on the stairs this week there's a painting very like his. (We've now lost Brown to New Zealand.) Funk Art is exuber- ant, subversive, dirty; it doesn't like fine -art traditions and elegance, It's as interested in sex and violence and poli- tics as in aesthetic form. It's not abstract, but realistic, and John Kerr calls his exhibition "Things as I see and feel them." I think he's more a feeler than a seer. Now and then some quite conventional illustra- tor's drawing lurks un- der the paint. The color can get a bit pretty- pale pink, blue, yellow- for Funk. What he seems to like best is chopping bits off a board to leave a shaped panel, repre- senting mountains. Or to hack a lump of stone into a head and daub it with trickling red over yellow. Or tacking patches of clear plastic on to the painting to give the oils a new sur- face. Or in the airborne and lit -up "Wright Knight" the artists' varied activities include bending chicken wire, crumpling tissue paper, knotting a woollen scarf, polishing a halo; inflating something or other 111 rubber. Busy hands have been indulging themselves in all sorts of touch sen- sations. The result Is great richness and beauty of texture, as is usual with artists who nesil'e things out of rub- bish. The sense of sight Is less indulged, though adequately. And the mind is nicely exercised. There are literary puns, nos- talgia. The splendid "Wright Knight' looks like a samurai out of Tenniel's "Alice in the Looking -Glass," happy to have achieved a creaky dream of night. Business as usual ART with Daniel Thomas by Sexyvtiganza 1908 and its study. The Study. attached to it by a chain, is a color re- production of Picasso's famous cubist brothel scene, the Demoiselles d'Avignon: the big pic- ture includes a portrait of Picasso, but does'nt much resemble the Demoiselles except that it. and everything in the exhibition 1s, roughly, cubist, and the Demoiselles are the usual art history begin- ning of cubism. So, all art grows out of other art, and the chain makes the point in a nice sadomasochis- tic way. Happy impris- onment. Does this give licence to raid anything from the past? Why not? Even though there's a bit of Mondrian here for the Twenties (though .given an abstract . expressionist background) Radio city streamlined archi- tecture for the Thirties, a Stuart Davis stilt -life for the Forties (best in the show?), collage of Brando as a Wild One for the Fifties, and Pop for the Sixties, they all look sufficiently the same to be recognised as Oldfields. One thinks about the characterisation of the Decades and I think it's wrong. My idea of the Twenties is large, simple, classical forms, neutral colors, beige, white, and in the minor arts, black and orange. For me the Thirties are all silver, and concern- ed with black and white cinema. The Forties are smudgy and romantic- ally colored. Photo-col- lage will do for the Fifties and Pop for the Sixties. One thinks how it's the right show for a gallery in that part of town, among the run- down 'thirties pop architecture of the Rap- alio and the Trocadero, among the flea - pit movie houses that just now produce a fashion- able success like "Wild in the Streets." Prices are only 820 to $200. This is the sort of occasion to gamble on a future winner, Alan Oldfield's "Nos- talgia Show" at Central Street makes you think so much about various things that you hardly look at the pictures. There are a couple of paintings each for the Twenties Thirties, For- ties, Fifties and Sixties. They are preceded by Mauretania 1915, and And one thinks how it's only the most minor arts that can be firmly assigned to their time - slots in art history. The bigger art is the less it has period nostalgia, the more timeless (all- time) value. With great art on e doesn't care when it was made, but only who made it; with minor arts one cares nothing about the artist, only about the period. Art has then turned into archeology. MACQUARIE Cam Sparks, unlike Oldfleld, really is several different artists - Cezanne watercolors of apples, Paul Klee mosaics, fauve interior/ exteriors, Ralph Batson, straightforward life class drawings. One was not provoked to think either about the artist or art or a r t history. One just won- dered could any of these be lived with, would they look pleas- ant In a house. Yes indeed. I especially liked the watercolors, like Gerald Fitz- gerald's 1, a Sydney f 910, art - Ursula Laverty, un- like Sparks, is consis- tent, but like him it's simply a matter of something warm and pleasant for domes- tic decoration. grey, rubbed. "Shal- lows" form pieces IlKe seem [Ile best, BONYTIION Salvatore Zofrea is an Incredibly old-fashion- ed young painter, thick turgid knifings of fig- ure and landscape out of Van Gogh and Sou - tine. I can't come to grips with them. Maybe they're all right. Geoffrey de Groen Is pretty good. Especial- ly at freezing a swell- ing, momentary, im- pulsive swirl, into some- thing tensely fixed but still momentary, The Australian Crafts to be shown at the Stuttgart International (at t h e personal ini- tiative of Mares Gas- sere]) are by Col Levy, Milton Moon. He e- ther Dorrough Toni Carver. David Dunne, Bernard Sahm, Mona Messing, and two anonymous New Out- lier' n a elves. I'd have included the other, more penile, red and blue tipped pots of Bernard Salim; pots by Peter Travis: and I'd have risked the quiet, organic, weaving of Margaret Grafton instead of the instant- impact of Dorrough and Fedderson. Mona Hessing's hang- ing sculpture of woven strips Is very promising but not nearly o u t- rsgeous enough. i--- WHAT'S ON ----7 . 2 Art Gallery of New Stern: Mixed show. 2 6 South Wales: Arch(- Calico. A: Mixed show. 6 1 bald. Wynne, Suiman, Bonython: Geoffrey de 2 6 prizewinners only. Groen, Salvatore Zot- 9 Newcastle City Art Gal- rea, Australian crafts , lery: Early Newcastle, for Stuttgart Inter- 6 9 1807-1893, national. t Clune: Mixed show. Komon: Mixed show. 1 Cascade: Mixed show Villiers, Bay Street, / (Wednesday), Double Bay: Inalig- Commonweal h Savings ural exhibition. Bank, Mel tin Place, Selections from the Workshop Arts Centre: gi 2 Wynne Prize, Teacher's show. David Jones': Fine arts, Von Bertouch: David 1 decorative arts. Boyd. Farmers: Lewis Lederer Macquarie, Canberra: 2 (Wednesday). Mixed show, "Per- ', Macquarie: Ursula Lay- sonal Visions" i closes 6 erty. Cameron Sparks, Wednesday). Central Street: Alan Friday Lecture: Donald 2 Oldfield. "Great Nos- Brok. "The Practice 2 G talgia Show." of Criticism," Work- 6 Madding: Pottery. shop Arts Centre, 8 1yy 6p.m.Waiters: John Kerr. .m. 44 ce.-3 s-4,554-1 6-4.1 pea 6-4-.5 c4-2 4.72 e--es rea e+,1 e+4 c+a rt.,