Page 40 - Studio International - December 1965
P. 40

promise with the superficial; each canvas is a declara­
                                                                                tion  of intent:  the  world is  a place  of sand and rock.
                                                                                its constitution is inimical to man.  in shadow and sun
                                                                                we  live  and  we  die.  Harsh?  Perhaps  but  even  from
                                                                                harshness poetry can be distilled.
                                                                                  Coming to the  British artists exhibiting in  November.
                                                                                 I  find  that  the  evidence  is  present  of  what  might  be
                                                                                 called  a  continuity  of  the  tentative  in  the  work  of
                                                                                 several  of  the  artists  whose  reputations  have  been
                                                                                 established  in  the  past  ten  years.  Anthony  Caro.
                                                                                 showing  several  of  his  recent  works  at  Kasmin's
                                                                                 Gallery,  continues  with  the  disposition  of  sections  of
                                                                                 straight  and  curved  painted  steel  rod  and  seems  to
                                                                                 arrive at a suggestion of finality. Yet in a long scrutiny
                                                                                 of  these' skeletal  poses.  the  conclusion is inescapable
                                                                                 that  any  number  of  permutations  could  produce  an
                                                                                 equivalent  effect.  This didactic  exercise  is not without
                                                                                 its  inherent  elegance  and  balance  without  however
                                                                                 straining  the  equilibrium  to  the  point  of  tension.  The
                                                                                 brightness  of  the  paint.  in  fact.  lessens  the  sensation
                                                                                 of weight in the members and also to some extent their
                                                                                 three-dimensional element.  Visually,  the appearance is
                                                                                 flat and from a single viewpoint the forms describe an
                                                                                 almost graphic  design  in  space.  It  is  this  attempt  to
                                                                                 create  a  free-standing  design  beyond  the  solid  base
                                                                                 which has limited sculpture until now that marks Caro
                                                                                 as  a  resourceful  experimenter  in  the  'marriage·  of
                                                                                 sculpture  and  painting.  This  alliance  is  one  of  the
                                                                                 really  new  directions  discernible  in  contemporary  art
                                                                                 recently.
                                                                                  The tentative is so present in the work of  Peter  Blake
                                                                                 that several of the paintings in his recent exhibition at
                                                                                 the  Robert  Fraser  Gallery  are  reproduced  in  the
                                                                                 catalogue before they have undergone further painting
                                                                                 by the artist.  Blake makes many of his likeness of stars
                                                                                 of entertainment such as the  Beatles and Jean Harlow
                                                                                 from  pin-up  photographs  and  as  he  has  said  he  has
                                                                                 attempted to  reproduce  some  of  the  character  of  the
                                                                                 photographs in the paintings.  Others such as Bedouin
                                                                                 has been worked on for a long time in cryla and seems
                                                                                 even now incomplete. A particularly bright and colour­
                                                                                 ful portrait is of Simon Rodia. who decorated the great
                                                                                 Towers in Los Angeles with bits of crockery, tiles. bottles
                                                                                 and  mirrors.  One  feels  that  Blake  is  concerned  to
                                                                                 extract from the  second-hand.  some of the original's
                                                                                 presence and yet preserve the icon-like feeling for the
                                                                                 pin-up  photograph  that  the  genuine  admirer  feels.
                                                                                 Actual  photographs  are  themselves  used  as  collage
                                                                                 montage on some of the paintings with the addition of
                                                                                 toy  soldiers.  Doktor  K.  Tortur  is  a  painting  of  an
                                                                                 imaginary  German  wrestler  with  coins.  a  cigar  packet
                                                                                 lid. ribbon. a toy car and the damaged statuette added
                                                                                 to produce an effect that is not without its affinity with
                                                                                 the naive  exvoto  one  sees in  the  church  crypt of an
                                                                                 Italian seaport town.  Like  Kitaj,  Peter  Blake is a literary
                                                                                 artist  in  the  sense  that direct observation  from  nature
                                                                                 is  not the  sole  stimulus to  the creative  act.  Strippers.
                                                                                 wrestlers.  boxers.  pin-up  girls  are  his  subjects  and
                                                                                 many are the transformation of actual photographs back
                                                                                 into  the  semblance  of  life  that  paint  can  achieve.  It
                                                                                 would  seem  that  Blake  is  intent  to  prove  not  that
                                                                                 photography meant the  end of figurative painting but
                                                                                 that it can be used as a means of stimulating art.
                                                                                  Over  eleven  years  ago  a  young  London  labourer
                                                                                 called Jack Taylor had his first one-man exhibition of
      Peter  Blake                                                               his 'primitive· paintings at the  Redfern Gallery.  It was a
      763 Bedown  1964-65
      Cryla on board                                                             great success but he gave up serious painting and sunk
      30½ X  1 8½  in.                                                           his money in a window cleaning business. Then he had
      Robert  Fraser Gallery
      244
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