Page 29 - Studio International - June 1966

its components (Harold Cohen calls them `paradoxes'). line appears to define a regular, symmetrical, geometric
In a Harold Cohen there will be fragmentary move- configuration, but when followed through, the geometry
ments of line and various areas of textured or flat colour is found in subtle ways to be not 'logically' consistent
where the tensions arise from the way they grow to- (as with Harold Cohen, the inside and the outside of a
gether—dappled ground intuitively suggesting the move- line often describe different sequences). The colour adds
ment of line, line intuitively suggesting enclosed or another layer of alternating readings. Where it changes
partly-enclosed shapes and colour-areas—so that the hue it often implies a change in spatial depth (leading to
results are both seemingly casual and organically close- the frequent interpretation of Denny's paintings as archi-
knit: images, references, contradictions, and possibilities tectural images), but the colours are so close-toned that
are implicit at every stage—the inside of a line, for far from emphasizing space, they emphasize the solidarity
example, defining a shape; the outside of it apparently and unbroken lateral spread and flatness of the surface.
suggesting a spatial boundary; and the way it abruptly The 'mystery' of Denny's paintings is partly a subjective
comes to an end leaving both interpretations open. quality—their stillness, their finality and their shadowed,
Denny's word for a comparable effect is 'mystery', somehow hieratic character suggest that they hold
which would seem particularly suitable for an image secrets. But as with both the Cohens, though in a more
which is outwardly much more closed, static and rigidly explicit way because of the very nature of his images,
defined but which still contains the possibility of alterna- Denny calculates his effects as much as he realizes them
tive readings by means of which the spectator is drawn (as any painter must do) instinctively. This may seem an
into the inner workings of the painting itself. Denny's obvious point to make. But again it is an indication of