Daniel Thomas : Newspaper writings

r Life on a wall "TELEGRAPH" Sydney, N.S.W. 1971 ROY DE MAISTRE died in London three years ago and the contents of his studio, now at the Rudy Komon Gallery, make a sort of documentary on his career. He was Australian-born, he moved between Europe and Australia in the 'twen- ties, and settled in Lon- ion permanently in 1930. He is a minor artist: but ,since all Australian art is ' minor art, we can say he is a major Australian ar- tist without talking abso- lute nonsense. This is an important ex- hibition, and I want to digest it to see if there is anything new to say about him next week. Meanwhile there are plenty of other exhibitions in Sydney. Natters Gallery. Two exhibitions: paintings by the proprietor's brother Max Walters, sculptures by John Davis, Max Natters lives at Muswelibrook, and paints the nearby landscapes of the Upper Hunter. His color is brighter than several years ago, his structure more tapestry - like, less Ellsworth Kelly than recently, but he is still naive. The walls of houses, and iron roofs, are painted smooth, in small parallel strokes. The long blond summer pastures (or crops?) are painted in thick and furry dabs. Thus the paint -handling imitates the subject. And when the subject is taken so seriously you are still naive. Who could blame him; it is an exceptionally beautiful landscape, he knows its beauty, and shows it to us. John Davis la a Mel- bourne sculpt'w and every sculpture he makes uses the same formal element a kind of droopy trowel, though sometimes it has looked like a water faucet. One hundred of them project out of a wall panel to make a relief. Smaller numbers, in smaller or larger sizes do other things. They rise up out of the floor of a box, and out again through Its lid. Or they are tiny of the end of long rods lying casually. Or they make "-s avenue of facin4 Just because it Is only a formal element (though with a vaguely and am- biguously aggressive sex- uality), one delights in the inventiveness. It is not like the American, Trova, whose "Falling Man" has irri- tatingly shrunk and swelled and multiplied and tum- bled. always with a load of unearned portentous significance. Davis also shows photo- graphs of very interesting grass sculptures, plastic film placed over lawn. cir- cular holes cut in It, growth inhibited and growth ac- celerated. Emelio Greco. To ac- company David Jones' pro- motion of Italia Roman- tic& its gallery shows drawings, lithographs, etchings and bronze heads by a contemporary and highly traditional Italian artist. They are supremely ele- gant, they are Picasso's neo-classicism, they are Brigitte Bardot, they are the Renaissance, they are ancient Greece. They are all of girls, and they are all round as round can be. It's not boring like Hans Erni's round- ness, but it's completely mindless. Michael Johnson. Four large paintings at Gallery A. An early Frontal, a Window, some horizontal bars, end, sent out from New York whefe he now woi.ts, a "Forward." Is he. after all, a colorist at all? "Forward" is tonal. Some of Ole best Syd- ney works, on reflection, wer., close -toned too. Ls he really a descendant of Whistler, instead of Mat- isse? Ten painters Arts Council Gallery. Ten painters introduce themselves as a sort of co- operative. After this group show they will reappear one by one with one-man shows. Portrait photographs of the ten are at the door and they do look a nice lot of men, gentle, kind, sensitive, bearded. Are their pictures as nice? Sometimes not quite, and sometimes just as. And jariustly e as nough nice . isn't neces- s The purpose of the co- operative is presumably to exhibit work which these artists feel is being neglected by the dealers' galleries for being either not vulgar enough to sell, ART by daniel Thomas or else not flamboyant enough to attract publicity, (In fact the dealers might not think It good enough). So what you get is pleasant, and technically competent. It is a reposi- tory of some of East Syd- ney Technical College's values. IL is nice. but it is not stirring. Inhibodress. If you are tired and hungry and go- ing home very late, the 'Performance, Participa- tion and Art by Instruc- tion" will be too much for you. Be prepared, Just as you always have to be for the theatre, with food and strength. Old-fashioned non -par- ticipation art is often able to restore you when you are tired and hungry. These are differences, not evaluations. Both kinds of art can give a lot. There are take -away piece). at Inhibodress, a paper bag to wear over your head and think in, for five minutes. Paul Haeillger, at the Holdsworth Galleries. takes on other artists In his paintings. One has affection for the paintings simply because they are reminders of Cezanne, Jacques Villon, John Ian Fair- weather. and the whole tradition of French art. They don't' have a strongly individual flavour, but they are undeniably pleasant. Nudes. Proud's show 61 nudes by 10 Australians. mostly much as expected. Norman Lindsay, James Gieeson and so on. But J. S. Watkins. a scarcely remembered artist from the early 20th cen- tury. and then remembered for black and red tonalism. appears with a "Decora- tive" style. the background filled up with outlined pat- tern. He is a footnote to Art Deco in Arstralia.