Page 48 - Studio International - August 1966

Robert Bucker verticals, one of which descends almost twice the length
Cruciform LXIII 1964-5 of the others. Metrically, it would read „/„„. This final
Wall structure, painting on
masonite. Approx. 12 x 6 ft symmetry is in the orthodox constructivist tradition since
the long right-hand side is balanced by the longer tube
and its two left-hand companions. Balance is achieved
through calculated asymmetry.
Having said this, it is important to take the medium into
consideration. The glowing tube produces an irregular
edge of light which then almost dissipates both symmetry
and asymmetry in its effulgence. Rigour in basic form is
erased by pulsating light, producing a strange and, in this
case, compelling effect. The 'virtual volumes' discussed
at length by the early constructivists are fully articulated
here, but with a difference: where most constructivist
sculpture was conceived in the round, or else in clear
relief, this piece is neither three-dimensional nor in sharp
relief. It hovers somewhere between the two and its
virtuality is elusive. A cold icon or a lunar symbol ?
Whatever Flavin develops from this medium, I think it
will be perplexing— one of the definition-eluding forms
which seem to dominate the efforts of many younger
artists.

The sources of Robert Backer's major constructions in
his exhibition at the FEIGIN GALLERY are given in the
blueprint-paper announcement of his show: he is plainly
enthralled by the ground plans of medieval Christian
churches.
Below left Out of the cruciform diagrams he draws the schema for
Gold beaker with bulls his bland and anachronistic wall pieces. They are com-
Marlik. Early
1st mil. B.C. posed of panels painted into rectangular sections and
Height 7 in. framed in unfinished wood. He alternates gold paint with
tans, browns and deep blues, in a disconcertingly flat
Below right
High pottery vase date statement of spatial division. Looking at the homely
Susa. c. 3,500 B.C. stained frames for each panel, I couldn't help wondering
Height 11 in. what pale memory of Siennese altarpieces informs these
works. How can the artist encase his reference to a gilded
Both from Archaeological
Museum, Tehran and in the past in such unprepossessing frames? It is not clear
exhibition 7000 years of Iranian whether it is want of tact or deliberate.
Art at the Asia Society
In smaller works, Buckler's point is better taken. A
series of diptychs, for instance, is a pleasant play on
geometric form and pretends to little else.
For those whose hunger for millenial art is as great as for
modern art, ASIA HOUSE is a constant blessing. This small
private museum consistently offers New Yorkers oppor-
tunities to contemplate the art and artifacts of the East in
the best possible circumstances. Gradually, Asia House is
:ximpiling an anthology of origins, documented in
hand-some catalogues and readily available
The last chapter is a circulating exhibition, 7,000 Tears
f Iranian Art, previously seen in Europe and elsewhere
in the United States. Since some of the treasures had
been returned to Iran, the museum drew upon private
resources in New York in order to present one of the
most startling and beautiful surveys I have ever seen. The
wise critics such as Sir Herbert Read and Andre Malraux
lave never ceased to remind us of the contemporaneity
)f certain ancient arts, and New Yorkers would do well
to switch their allegiances to thinkers on this proud
scale. The lessons implicit in the exhibits are crucial to
;he understanding of art, and therefore of modern art. q