Page 65 - Studio International - November 1966

Agnes Martin ceptual' : they have been thought out and executed
• The City 1966
Acrylic on canvas according to a plan. Some, such as the graph by Agnes
. 72x 72 in. Martin, and the equally phrased, whale-bone pattern of
Lent by Robert Elkon Gallery, Peter Gourfain, depend on the steady repetition of the
New York, to the exhibition module for effect. Others, such as Kenneth Noland's
at the Solomon R.
Guggenheim Museum diamond-shaped canvas with its transverse bands of
colours, depend on the contours of the stretcher.
All except a few of the paintings are executed in acrylic,
and all keep modelling, tonal gradations and illusionistic
effects at a minimum. Yet this general tendency does not
justify a label. It is apparent that the work of Al Held
issues from radically different imaginative sources from
those of Dean Fleming, for instance. Alloway recognizes
the nuances in his essay, but still insists on his systemic
invention. How cautiously he proceeds !
`This does not exclude empirical modification of a work
• Peter Gourfain
Whale-Road 1966 in progress, but it does focus them within a system....The
• Acrylic on canvas predictive power of the artist, minimized by the prestige
60 x 144 in. of gestural painting, is strongly operative, from ideas and
. In the Systemic painting
exhibition early sketches, to the ordering of exactly scaled and
shaped stretchers and help by assistants.'
No one can argue with this statement really, since the
number of artists using fixed sketches is certainly greater
than before. But then, certain so-called gestural painters,
such as Franz Kline, also worked from precise sketches.
The distinction, then, is hardly worth making. Perhaps
Alloway comes closest to being specific when he discusses
One-Image Art, described as works in 'runs, groups or
periods'. When seen in a favourable light, the repetition
of image or motif becomes a positive virtue, a part of an
overall system. When challenged negatively—rarely
enough these days—such repetition appears academic.
Much of this exhibition was pleasant enough, most of it
well-executed, but just a few works really make strong

Thomas Downing Reds Escalator 1966
Acrylic on canvas 105x 60 in. In the Systemic painting exhibition