Page 25 - Studio International - September 1965
P. 25

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         1                       'lyrical'  it  is  not  because  they  are  sweet  but  because  their  naked  forms.  without  softening  or  distraction.
         Charles  Blackman  seen  in front
         of  his  painting       they  depend  on  a  certain  purity  and  directness  of  This  is  why his  figures emerge almost invariably  from
         The  Change             response.  If  they  are  'dream-like·.  they  have  nothing  backgrounds that are totally devoid of detail or content
         2                       vague or self-indulgent or self-hypnotised about them.   or  commitment.  Only  by  being  stripr:ed  and  isolated
         Giff by  1he  fence     There are.  God knows. dreams and dreams.          can they take the force of the bare feeling. The images
         78  X  54  in.
         Oil on  Canvas            The essence of  Blackman's paintings is.  I think.  not  are.  in  fact.  the  figurative  equivalents  of  what  the
                                 that they are dream-like but that they are like dreams.   abstract  expressionists would call ·gestures·.
         3
         The  1ransparent  table   They  inhabit  a  world  quite  different  from  that  of  sur­  The difference.  of course.  is that the gestures are not
         72  X 84  in.
         Oil on  Canvas          realism which was concerned.  above all.  with the wit,   made simply through the paint itself. They are gestures
                                 or  whimsicality,  of  the  unconscious.  with  creating  a  to  which  shapes  cling,  tentatively  but  persistently,  in
                                 landscape  art  out  of  the haphazard.  baroque  connec­  the  same  way  as  dreams  organize  themselves  around
                                 tions  made  by  the  mind  running  without  restraints.  images.  or memories suddenly crystallize in a face or a
                                  Blackman's paintings try to get through to a stage below  movement or an unpredicted intersection of sensations.
                                 this. a stage before what Freud called 'the dream-work'  a  kind  of psychic  touching  of  finger-tips.  It is  an  art
                                 begins.  Blackman.  I  mean.  is  dealing  with  the  raw  not of observation but of intuition. concerned with the
                                 emotional  material  which  is  transformed  and  made  essence  not  of  what  is  seen  but  what  is  felt;  an  art.
                                 tolerable-in  however  lunatic  a  way-by  the  process  in short.  of subjective understanding.
                                 of  dreaming.  He  is  trying.  that  is.  to  find  images  for   Perhaps  this  is  why  such  a  great  deal  of  technical
                                 grief  and  guilt.  loss.  persecution  and  tenderness  in  concentration seems  to go into rendering the elusive-








































                                                                                    ness of it all.  Blackman paints a great deal and quickly;
                                                                                    at times he even seems to be sketching in oils.  But in
                                                                                    his most  finished  and highly organized  work there is
                                                                                    still a feeling of insubstantiality, even an insistence on
                                                                                    it.  Those  lost  children  may  seem  to  coagulate  out  of
                                                                                    the blankness  of their background. yet there is always
                                                                                    a  sense  of  the  background  shining,  or  soaking,
                                                                                    through them. as though ready at any moment to engulf
                                                                                    them  again.  The  accusing  faces  emerge  from  behind
                                                                                    other faces or from the folds of dresses, as if they could
                                                                                    be seen only out of the corners of one's eyes. as if they
                                                                                    were  not  quite  there.  Yet  this  elusive  insubstantiality
                                                                                    has  its  own  coherence.  Blackman  paints  as  though
                                                                                    the  activity  were  a  form  of  inner  exploration.  So
                                                                                    however  resolutely  he  tries  to  catch  each  intuition
                                                                                    purely and in one. he knows at the same time that no
                                                                                    adult  feeling  is  pure  or  single.  Hence  in  coming  to
                                                                                    artistic  terms  with  each  response  he is  summing  up
                                                                                    his  life  up  to  that  point.  Thus  in the  paintings  faces
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