Daniel Thomas : Newspaper writings

'RV a - From "MORNING HERALD" Sydney, N.S.W. 27 SEP lq71 Gallery redefined NEW EXHIBITIONS By DANIEL THOMAS THE Macquarie Gal- leries' house show of twelve painters is, inevit- ably, a kind of gallery manifesto. Since the Macquarie Galleries has been in exist - env: almost for r and since the present I '. it age- ment has a direct line ;k to the late thirties, a ..,ate for Parisian -looking semi - abstraction, very craftsmanlike, is not sur- prising. It was the most wide- spread style in the world in the forties and fifties, and this civilised, undis- turbing blend of cubism, tachisme and colour is till very well done by Stan de Teltga, Jeffrey Makin. Michael Kmit, Kenneth Hood and Rodney Mil - gate. Peter Blayney. recently back from many years in England. shows more consciously revivalist figure compositions, in a thirties' cubist manner. Somewhere along the way the Macquarie, like any other gallery, picked up some purer abstract -ex- pressionists, whose work was usually a matter of monochrome gestures, not of colour harmony and structure, and here are examples of the style of Henry Salkauskas, William Peascod and Erica McGilchrist. But a third category of artists in this Macquarie show is less predictable, and it reveals a taste pleasingly independent of the main art movements. For example, Ken Whis- son, a painterly figurative expressionist from Mel- bourne, whose work can make one think of Emil Nolde's. Nobody ever seems to have liked his work except the Mac- quarie, yet I think it is very good. Or Keith Looby, equally eccentric in his gloomy giant sur- realism, though much less certain in quality; he shows not his familiar puffy figures but instead an eight -foot painting of a paper bag with a land- scape inside. And now two more painters of tormented pres- ences are with the Mac- quarie. Malcolm Thain's work is like Francis Bacon's, Richard Crich- ton's is more exploratory, like Whisson. It is extemely,interesting to see the Macquarie re- defining itself as not only the last outpost of Syd- ney's French -style charm, but as also the home of some disturbing German - style expressionists, most of them from Melbourne. * * * Douglas Dundas's one- man show at Artarmon is his first for more than 20 years. Like many art teachers he exhibited only occasional works in the annual exhibitions of the art societies, and not until retirement has he had time to produce a larger show. In fact, although there is no catalogue and few dates, the exhibition seems to include some portraits and Italia, 'andscapes of the twenties or thirties. Canberra in the forties, and one almost "modern." tachiste grid landscape from 1958, influenced per- haps by the climate of "Direction I." However the majority are recent Sydney, Hill End and Tas- manian landscapes, and if you are unfamiliar . with his work, think of Roland Wakelin's style which is well enough known. Macquarie: 12 gallery artists. Artarnion: Paintings by Douglas Dundas. Eshihltion Hall, Sydney Opera House: "All the world's a stage": Australian and British Theatre. Robert Wardrop: Paintings by Dale Marsh. Saints: Copper plaques. Barefoot: Paintings by Anneke Silver. Bathurst Art Gallery, Bathurst: Ceramic compe- tition. Von Bertoudi, Newcastle: Paintings by Jamie Boyd (tomorrow). Rudy Komon: Ewa Pachucka (Saturday). Opera House. That means sketches by rather minor artists, for decor and cost- umes, much less inter- esting than the wonderful- ly extravagant costumes themselves, of which there are many on view. There are playbills and old photographs; nostalgic music is piped in. It's a lot of fun with hardly any serious art to worry about, except a few portraits: Nellie Melba by Lonestaff, Nellie Stewart by W. B. McInnes, and in the rather scholarly British section - it's a show of Australian and British Theatre, with much help from the British Council - many fine engravings, a portrait drawing by Aueustus John of Michael Redgrave. a good-sized canvas of David Garrick by Zoffam' and drawings by Thornhill from the eighteenth century. The best painting is a beautiful Lily Langtry by G. F. Watts. One complaint: almost nothing on the de Basil Ballet Company's visit to Australia in the late thirties, apparently with His art is quiet and sensitive, warm and cheer- ful, but by no means light. It makes the familiar tran- sient experiences, like city twilights or hills in sun- shine, into something solid and permanent. * * * Theatre Arts are to be seen in the Exhi- bition Hall at the Sydney decor by major artists. I'd like to know whether there really were sets by Picasso and Miro out here then; certainly they commis- sioned Sidney Nolan to do his first theatre design. The Exhibition Hall is open daily from 10 am to 10 pm. and has a bar in the lobby. There is an ad- mission charge, and also a good catalogue with a lot of theatre history. Loca- tion: water level on the Circular Quay side, just past a grease -stained load- ing dock which services the restaurant. * * * Two important exhibits close this weekend. See them if you can. Frank and Marge! Hinder. Newcastle City Art Gallery, paintings, sculptures, lumina! kinetics by two outstanding Australian pioneer modernists. Anton! Wraith', a table - full of coloured bread, an avant-garde sculpture with a short life. At the Art Gallery of New South Wales.