Daniel Thomas : Newspaper writings

Po. "TELEGRAPH" Sydney, N.S.W. ACTS OF PROTEST Professor Bernard Smith's contribution to some of the works he bought for the Power Gallery of Contempor cry Art (now at Farm- ers) is to have turned them into acts of pot. itical protest. Three Czechoslovakian are Included In the exhibition. I had heard of Jirl Kelar's poetic collages, and it's worth seeing one , though I'd rather one of his collaged apples or chairs than just a conventional flat sur- face. But Mikulas Me- dek and Vladimir Prec- lik? Is there a new Czech renaissance? There is not; and the semi -abstract paintings and woodcarvings are not worth looking at. However, Professor Smith's catalogue Intro- duction, disarmingly, explains that these pur- chases were made a year ago, that Is 1068, and "it seemed that 1468 should not pass without the Power Gallery (sup- porting) the avant- garde art of Czecho- slovakia." What he means is that Russia suppressed a movement towards lib- eralism in this small satellite nation and that he is demonstrating against such reaction- ary political brutality. You couldn't have a better reason for buying bad art, and one almost excuses him. Then there is a - maniacs woodcarver, Maitre. and a Brazilian engraver, Quadros, nei- ther of much interest. and like many of the prints and paintings shown in the Power Gallery's last exhibition - of contemporary Ita- lian art at the Bony - thou oallery - they wore bought from the Venice Blennale, Yet, in spite of the Czechs, the purchases from the Venice Bien- nale, and the slight drawings by the not very - contemporaries Hans Hartung and Patrick Heron. this Is by far the best group of Power Gallery acqui- sitions we have seen. The reason is simple, All the ' remaining works were bought from ART with Duple' Thomas an international exhibi- by blowup and enlarge- tion - which, unlike merit of the tiny dots in Venice's. has very high color reproductions. An prestige. at was called exceedingly e I e g a n t Documents IV, and it screenprint on plaster, was held at Kassel. by Armen, makes a rib - Germany, a year ago.) boned veil from the col - Since the organisers ors squeezed out of en tried Very hard to get accumulation of paint the best work by the tubes. best contemporary ar- Martial Raysse would Lista of the whole have been a nice corn - world, and since the ar- pletion for French pop. tints also wanted to be And why on earth, represented by their among all the French best work, anything and Italian purchases, bought at Kassel Is' didn't paintings get well - and - truly pre- bought by the great tested for quality, avant-garde indepen- Since Germany doesn't dents, Yves Klein and make any claim to be Lucio Fontana? (But an art centre, like one should not indulge Paris, London or New York, its critical die- in these suggestions; it might have been a tance from the main- stream is just right. It money problem.) seemed able easily to However, Germany's avoid swamping Docu- own most interesting menta with minor Ame- independent is here. deans, French or Brit- Gotthard Graubner iah, or anybody else. was the great discovery And at the same time for us in last year's It was able to recognise Adelaide Festival ex - the excellence both of Mitten of German art. certain oddball lade- The Tower Gallery's pendents - like the new one is larger, less Czechoslovakian Kolar, travel -stained, but it Is or Moil (Italy), Graub- ner (Germany), glen- similarly a "pillow plc- holz (U.S.A.), Wester- tare," mann (U.S.A.) - and, of matnatreamers work- ing outside Paris, Lon- don, etc. These first-rate peri- pheral mainstream e r s usually seem to come from the Netherlands, and one of them, Jos Menders, has the larg- est piece at Farmers. a monstrous bulging re- lief of four humped mo- dules in white polyes- ter. Some French pop art has been added to the Power Gallery's large holdings of French kin- etic art. A large screen - print on canvas, by Alain Jacquet, is a strange dissolving of photography's "reality"