Page 23 - Studio Interantional - May 1967

Below Shmuel Shapiro Burning Woman and Antonio Berni (the Argentinian who won fine the selection of loan pictures by the
Lithograph in black and white, edition of 75 the Paris prize for graphics). No fixed mani- Spanish Government, the true spirit of Spain
festo was acceptable. Latitude of expression was in the Ibarrola exhibition. He did not
Bottom Martin Weener To Jack with love—Dallas was encouraged. The only corporate basis mean, of course, that the political prisoner
Oil on canvas
was a general agreement that the artist was Goya's equal, but he did underline the
Facing page should be sociologically activated. This left fact that Ibarrola's drawings had something
Top Verlon Man facing hydrogen bomb 1961 room for such disparate talents as the Soviet fresh and important to offer.
Oil on canvas sculptor Ernst Neizwestny and the Jugoslav Last year, two other artists (both Americans)
391 x 274- in. exile Eugen Lipkowitch— each making socio- demonstrated an equal concern for humanity.
logical statements but each doing so in a The Dallas paintings by Martin Weener (at
Centre Agustin Ibarrola Burgos Goal wholly individualistic manner. (IMAGO wel- the CURWEN GALLERY) reflect an artist so
Pen and ink comes the discoveries of modern art; its moved by a single event that he set aside his
object is to forge a new synthesis rather than normal work in order to paint a special
Bottom Agustin Ibarrola Portait drawing of Vidal de
to create a new style.) series in a different manner. Shmuel Shapiro
Nicholas, a fellow prisoner in Burgos Jail
If IMAGO is precise in its association with (living in Germany) behaved in much the
the contemporary scene, the American Artists' same way, except that in his case he was not
and Writers' Committee is far more flexible. stirred by a single incident. Weener painted,
The Peace Tower built with 2 ft-square panels not the assassination of a president, not even a
(pictures) by different artists wishing to regi- picture of Dallas, but the absolute climate of
ster dissent, called for no absolute clarity of obscurantist bigotry and inward-looking dis-
intent. Each artist made his contribution and taste of reform. Although his pictures were
—whatever it was—it was accepted as a token redolent with symbolism, some almost too
of 'involvement'. provincial for British understanding, there is
Only straight politics remains relatively free no mistaking the unblinking ignorance of
from genuine incursions from the visual arts. the smooth well-fleshed rodent faces of these
And all the signs suggest this situation is ripe imaginary Texans. The Dallas series was
for change. shown by the Oxford Union and at the Cork
At the time of the great Goya exhibition at Film Festival before coming to London. It
Burlington House, drawings by Agustin will be exhibited in 1968 at the Museum of
Ibarrola were shown at ST GEORGE'S GALLERY Modern Art, New York. All twenty-five
in Cork Street. The vernissage was held on paintings have been catalogued by the John
Sir Herbert Read's 70th birthday. Read, F. Kennedy Library.
always several steps ahead of avant-garde taste, The same gallery, Curwen, exhibited the
acted as official opener. The drawings, on work of Shmuel Shapiro. He too set aside
fine lightweight tissue, had been spirited out his usual work to prepare a special
of Burgos Gaol. Ibarrola, no mean artist, had künstler-mappe of the sufferings of the Jewish race.
drawn an almost Goya-esque series of torture, Again, the gesture was not made in a direct
arrest, and despair. In his introductory re- propaganda fashion. Shapiro, well aware of
marks, Read drew attention to the Goyas at the values of composition and colour,
the Royal Academy, adding that however through Professor Jurgen Thimme of Badi-
sches Landsmuseum, Karlsruhe, came in con-
tact with the London gallery director and
dealer Imry von Maltzahn. After consider-
able delay and discussion, largely over
financing of the project, it was settled that
Maltzahn would find the money and Curwen
(through its printing press) would provide the
actual printing, the paper and the necessary
craftsmen. The result is Tor des Todes (The
Gate of Death), a limited edition folio of ten
lithographs in black and white, each in edi-
tions of seventy-five copies, published jointly
by the Maltzahn Gallery Ltd. and Curwen
Prints Ltd.
Shapiro deliberately chose black and white
as the starkest possible colour combination.
When he began, his intensity of feeling was at
fever heat. If he had been a mere pamphle-
teer, Tor des Todes would have been banal.
Because Shapiro is an accomplished artist;
because he was consumed with the desire to
make a strong statement; because of these
things he has achieved a moving document
which is both art and 'message' inextricably
mixed. This is what the involved artist feels
he must do. Neither he nor anyone else
should feel ashamed to expose our deepest
feelings in this way. q
225