Page 8 - Studio International - August 1966

The fairness and unfairness of prizes

Comment by Jasia Reichardt
On June 14, during the Press view of the intervention of a well-known member of the to which the prize system still adheres, and
Venice Biennale, Henry Geldzahler called a French Government), the 33rd Biennale which the jury admitted to be outdated.
press reception at the American pavilion. prize list suggests otherwise. Prior discussions The second is that Le Parc's contribution
No public statement was made to the reflect more a 'betting' interest than a belongs to the realm of public art. What
assembled crowds, but a few leaflets were questioning of the jury's suitability—the Pop art has derived from mass media,
distributed before it was discovered that this converse of which is often true in England Le Parc and other members of the Groupe
was forbidden by the statute of the Biennale. on the occasions of smaller prize exhibitions. de Recherche d'Art Visuel have taken from the
The statement made by Mr Geldzahler, the Among artists mentioned as possible techniques (not the imagery) of the fun fair
commissioner for the American pavilion on winners for the two big prizes in painting and the amusement arcade. The existence
the occasion of the second official U.S. and sculpture were Soto, Fontana, Etienne of each work—electrical or mechanical
participation in the show, questioned the Martin, Lichtenstein, Fahlstrom, and devices—is only partial until the spectator
very foundations of the system on which the Jacobsen. In the event both Jacobsen and puts it into action by pressing buttons, sitting
whole event is based. The text was as follows: Etienne Martin shared the international on a stool on a giant spring, looking at
sculpture prize, but the painting prize went, himself in one of the patterned reflecting
The Venice Biennale is the oldest and most
prestigious of the international exhibitions of not to Soto, the obvious and deserving choice, mirrors, or looking at the world through a
painting and sculpture. but to the Argentinian Julio Le Parc, a variety of extraordinary spectacles that alter
I have chosen this year four artists, Helen member of the French Groupe de Recherche his own countenance as much as the en-
Frankenthaler, Ellsworth Kelly, Roy Lichten- d'Art Visuel, whose kinetic, reflecting and vironment around him. Unlike the games
stein, and Jules Olitski, all of whose work I feel light objects have as little to do with painting made by the Fluxus group, which exist for
to be serious, weighty, and worthy of inter- as such as they have with sculpture. (A the edification of the artist's own esoteric
national exposure. They are artists in flourishing propos of this Ernest Goldschmidt, editor of pleasure and public mystification, Le Parc's
mid-career; each has made a personal statement Quadrum, says that whenever he meets a essays lead the spectator and player into the
in original formal terms and shows every young man supposed to be involved with realm of the absurd. This element of surprise
indication of continuing possibilities in growth some creative activity, he asks: 'Are you a and engaging humour was illustrated, for
and development.
I think it unfortunate that the journalistic painter, a sculptor, or an artist?') instance, in the games with ping-pong balls.
emphasis at the Biennales is never on questions This choice of Le Parc was an unexpected Three glass-covered boxes of different
of aesthetic quality, but always on the mechanics as would have been the selection of the shapes contained electrically-operated felt
and politics of prizes. Prizes reflect quality only Japanese Ay-O—maker of rainbow pivots which dispersed white or coloured
in the most haphazard way. No committee or environments and tactile sculpture immedi- ping-pong balls at great speed. Le Parc's
jury, no matter how constituted, can proclaim ately declared indecent by the Venetian works were divided into several categories:
aesthetic quality. The prize and jury system paper Ii Giorno. Le Parc (born 1928) was the surface sequences—paintings with elaborate
must be abandoned. sole representative of Argentine. The fact patterns; reliefs in wood and metal, composed
I believe that the invitation to exhibit at the that his' work occupied the entire space of uniform elements; hanging mobiles based
Venice Biennale is a sufficient index of quality. allocated to his country, which on another on orthogonal forms; light projection boxes
Every lover of art who comes to Venice must
award his own private prizes. occasion might have been filled with work with continuous transformations of pattern;
by several artists, helped in great measure to reliefs with changing images as one moves
How important are the Biennale prizes? create the sort of forceful impact that made in front of them; vibrating elements and balls
To judge from discussions among those his contribution memorable. Several other manipulated by the spectator; electrically
attending (artists, dealers, critics, and pavilions, of course, also showed the work of operated objects; shadow-provoking struc-
museum representatives) this biennial con- single artists, and to great advantage: the tures; and, as Le Parc calls them, elements
vention, i.e. the three days of the Press view, Dutch, Constant; the Danes—Jacobsen; the a essayer, including douze paires de lunettes pour
the concern with them is very considerable. Swedes—Fahlstrom. Some critics thought that une vision autre; chaussures pour une démarche
Speculation adds an edge of hysteria to the had the British pavilion been devoted entirely autre (wooden-sole sandals on springs); and
proceedings, although there is nothing to to Anthony Caro's work he would have stood six doubles miroirs. The measure of originality
suggest that gossip is founded on fact, but the a good chance of winning the main sculp- and inventiveness of these works is their
results are often, and this time in particular, ture prize, but the decision to share the strongest and most significant attribute, and
completely unexpected. Although it is pavilion among five extremely good artists the fact that this sort of manifestation could
commonly claimed that prizes could be, was a subtle comment on the issue which be awarded the first prize at Venice is a
and sometimes are, awarded as a result of Geldzahler raised so much more ruthlessly. sign of the changing climate in the assessment
political pressure (some years ago it was The significance of the choice of Le Parc of values on the international art scene.
asserted that Fautrier received the Venice should not be underestimated for two reasons. The members of the jury for the 33rd Venice
international painting prize through the The first is that his work fits no categories Biennale were: Sergio Bettini (Italy),

Contributors to this issue Gene Baro, a frequent contributor to Studio Inter- Frank Whitford is researching into early twentieth
national, also contributes to Art International, The century German painting and graphic art, and has
Jasia Reichardt, who contributes a monthly Comment London Magazine, and other periodicals, and is taught art history at Camberwell School of Art. He
to Studio International, is assistant director of the London Correspondent of Arts Magazine and Art in also contributes cartoons to the Evening Standard,
Institute of Contemporary Arts. America. Like Robert Motherwell, Gene Baro was a
close friend of David Smith, and was with him on the Cyril Barrett lectures on philosophy and aesthetics
Robert Motherwell, who writes on David Smith, is night he was fatally injured in a motor accident. at the University of Warwick, and writes for Kunst-
himself a major figure in American art, and the werke and other journals.
Whitechapel Gallery held a retrospective of his paint- Ann Turner is a director with the Music and Arts
ings in March of this year. He was a longtime inti- Department of BBC Television. Among her produc- Edward Lucie-Smith, poet and critic, and Dore
mate of the sculptor and is one of the executors of tions are films on Joe Tilson and on the Calder Ashton, the American writer, contribute regular
the David Smith estate. exhibition at the Tate Gallery. commentaries to Studio International.