Page 17 - Studio International - March 1968
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phenomenon 'British Art'. There are,     would benefit from the hothouse environ­  techniques may be at the heart of the
             to be sure, half-a-dozen artists in this   ment. A number have tried it and a handful   whole affair. Several of our most interesting
             country who have made what will emerge   are thriving on it. Contrariwise, there are   artists have been very consciously involved
             as a real contribution to the international   artists in New York who would probably   with either the analysis or exploitation
             mainstream-and a contribution that       be better off in London-whose talent is   of presentation techniques. I would instance
             could not have originated anywhere       perhaps distorted by their present        Hamilton again, Paolozzi, and Peter
             outside London·. This contribution is not   environment.                           Phillips. Patrick Caulfield is a good example­
             'British Art', however-not in the sense   Whatever the shortcomings of the present   of an artist who has a built-in presentation
             that the term is being employed in militant   gallery situation-and of collectors, public   technique, though he does not perhaps
             circles. 'British Art' means-if I may    bodies, critics and academic establish­  manipulate this consciously. He doesn't
             presume to offer a definition of a concept   ments-the final responsibility must lie   need to.
             so amorphous-anything produced in the    with the artist himself. I fail to see why the   It is easier to talk of presentation
             U.K. which is received with total disinterest   public-even the small public needed to   · techniques in the case of flgurative art,
             in New York (or else not received at all).   sustain a healthy art scene-should be   but even where non-figuration is concerned
             I should add that the paranoid inferiority   expected to work itself into a fever of   certain artists have been able to give their
             complexes of two or three successful     excitement over second-hand ideas        work a presence so that the art-object
             artists has been drawn upon to lend      indifferently re-phrased in acres of acrylic   comes to meet the viewer half-way. Too
             spurious substance to the whole notion.   paint or fibreglass. To get away with   often the viewer is just offered some bland
              In any case, the use of the term 'British   playing the prima donna (a bizarre ambition  configuration of stains hanging on a wall
             Art' as anything but a factual description   at the best of times) you must give your   and is expected to guess what the artist
             is absurdly chauvinistic. There has been,   audience value for what�ver they're putting   is getting at (if you should presume to
             I repeat, a British contribution to the   down. Cliches, if you like-but let's have   ask the artist what he is getting at, the best
             international art scene during the past   cliches with panache.                   you can reasonably hope for is a petulant
             decade and this can profitably be discussed   I'm not suggesting thahi'rt should be   half-explanation). On the non-figurative
             -but objectively, please. To build a card­  conceived in a spirit of 'give the public   level presentation techniques may be
             board fortress around it and mumble      what it wants'. God forbid. But give it   subtle-as with Dick Smith and Mark
             'You may not think it's much but to us it's  something it feels it should want-some­  Lancaster-but they must, none-the-less,
             home'-this kind of thing is ridiculous.  thing which excites it, or terrifies it, or   exist. You must be aware that you are
             It has often been suggested that we have  makes it think (in London there's probably   looking at something worth looking at.
             to build up an image of 'British Art' to  more chance of the latter, if anybody's   The full implication of the work may unfold
             compete with the aggressive image­       thinking of trying). Given this kind of art.   very slowly, but there should be some
             building of the Americans. The Americans  the merchandisi.n,g machinery will manifest   immediate reward. It isn't just what you
             can afford to be chauvinistic; they are  itself spontaneously.                    present but how you present it. That's what
             setting the pace and have some justifica­  Naive? Try it out and see. If you're   art's all about.
             tion in expecting other people to make the  sceptical, look at what happened a few   I think it's undeniable that whatever
             scene on their terms. As an art capital  years ago when artists began to interest   impetus British art (out of inverted commas)
             London does not compare with New York;   themselves in the possibilities of screen­  has had over the past few years has been
             for very straight-forward, practical reasons.  printing. Silk-screen techniques demanded   largely due to the Pop thing which was
             To attempt to compete is suicidal and­   a very direct kind of imagery which had   concerned-however crudely-with
             what is more-unnecessary. A good deal    an immediate public appeal. The          presentation and was thus able to reach a
             of the best art to have emerged in London  screen print, at its best, was not just a   public. The non-figurative bias which
             recently gains by the very fact that the  substitute for a painting, and with only a   followed has-with the exception of one or
             artist is not subject to the pressures that  couple of hundred pounds a buyer could   two individual artists-lacked the sheer
             he would be under in New York. A concrete  lay the foundations of a decent collection.   physical impact to be found in the work of
             example is Richard Hamilton; I consider  The net result was a new kind of publisher/   American artists like Frank Stella and
             it extremely doubtful that he would have  dealer-Editions A/ecto is probably the   Robert Morris. Simplicity, allied to logic or
             been able to develop his detached,       prime example-who was able to work       some recognizable system, can be a
             analytical approach to popular culture in  within a new and more realistic economic   powerful presentation technique. Simplicity
             New York. It would be a waste of time to  structure.                              by itself is apt to look like an apology for
             make a direct comparison between                                                  spiritual and intellectual impotence.
             Hamilton and, say, Rauschenberg. What I   One of the curious sidelights of.the     In short, I feel that the loss of momentum
             will say is that you can hang a Hamilton  critic's calling (if that's the right word for   in London today is due npt at all to lack
             next to a Rauschenberg without           it-some artists would prefer to talk of   of potential, and only incidentally to an
             embarrassment because both are highly    the critic's duty) is that he discovers many   inadequate and obsolete merchandising
             talented artists and each has been able  painters and sculptors are really rather   system. It springs from a failure on the part
             to respond to the opportunities offered by  intelligent. Of course, in a few cases,   of the great majority of locally-based
             his own environment. London remains a    this may be evident in their work. In most   artists to make the best use of their talents.
             cultural centre and there is enough      cases, however, I am led to wonder just   If an artist wants to opt 0ut of the whole
             intellectual activity here to S\JStain an  what gets lost between the dialectical   scene and cultivate his own obsessions­
             individual talent who has the requisite nous  brilliance of the early hours and the canvas   good luck to him. If he wants to communi­
             and is prepared to look after himself. Let's  itself. Maybe it has been dissipated into   cate with the public he must learn how to.
             not kid ourselves, though, that anything  the angst which surrounds neurotic       It's no good artists expecting the public
             comparable to the New York hothouse      worrying over the status of 'British Art'   to come to them-there's no point, even,
             exists in this city. All we have here is a  and maintaining a standard of living. Or   in letting potential buyers in on the
             few garden frames (under which-we        maybe it's all still there-in which case   activities of the artists' union. Buyers have
             mustn't be too modest-we have managed    there's something sadly amiss with the   other things on their mind and will soon
             to grow a couple of prize cucumbers).    presentation techniques employed.        abandon the whole business as incestuous
             There are, doubtless, British artists who  I fancy this business of presentation   and boring.                         □
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