Page 62 - Studio International - April 1969

which have been shown here which looked capable of spectator participation, magnets to wide public, and they are 'new', 'difficult',
over-refined and sugary. move, boxes to lift (and when lifted groaned `avant-garde'. There is no possible parallel
Joseph's most recent works are single-coloured or lit up), an erotic chair to sit on, a pulpit either in print reproductions or graphics or
shaped canvases. These are not three-dimen- presumably to preach from, collage jigsaws to limited editions. There is a common assump-
sional shapes like those of Richard Smith, but play with. Static sculptural objects of card- tion that in British society today there is only
flat triangular canvases. At the Lisson there board, perspex, wood and steel added to the a small sensitive minority who are prepared to
is a large yellow triangle hung with its apex commotion. Individual impact was nearly im- support the unexpected—thus, for instance, the
just touching the ground and a smaller green possible and to name only a few objects seems need for the Arts Council to support the un-
triangle which hangs on the wall so that the invidious in the circumstances, but Lilian familiar arts in every sphere. The counter-
apex is some two feet above the ground, its Lijn's delicate revolving disc and balls (an argument is that the barrier to date in the
'base-line' approximately on a level with one's
eye. The placing seems important and care-
fully related to the shape and area of the
colour. The colour appears to have been built
up gradually in many thin layers, so that the
surface is very sensitive, the texture of the
canvas emphasised, not obliterated. There are
one or two slightly earlier, smaller rectangu-
lar paintings in which just two colours are
juxtaposed; here too the way the paint is put
on is particularly important, sometimes the
tooth of the canvas is brought up like a nap,
sometimes the paint is laid smoother so that
the texture is more regular. These and the
triangle paintings seem to me to be far the
best things that Joseph has done since his
vertical stripe paintings. They don't have the
aggressive 'coolness' of so much minimal art,
Don Foster
the technique is sensitive and involving, they Neon sculptures
remain paintings, not 'statements'. Their 6 x 6 x 9 in.
scale is carefully related to one's own scale
and sight-line, one's own presence adding a invited exhibit already in production), Don visual arts has been only a financial one, that
new dimension to them. Foster's reflected neon tubes, and Michael there is now a more widely educated public
Joseph's next step (not shown at the Lisson) McKinnon's hanging circular object, moving with an acute eye, ready and willing to buy for
has been to make large disks of plywood with deliberate suspense, were noteworthy. pleasure and stimulation if the price is right.
painted in a single colour which could be But there were some common factors, and It's difficult to tell; what seems unlikely is that
leant against a wall, or, better, in the open, some tentative trends. No utilitarian object this public can be reached through normal
against a tree; a patch of colour in the land- was selected; these were art objects and art `art' channels.
scape, rather like a kite in the sky. objects alone. The high standards set by the The market place for multiples is not the art
PAUL OVERY two main British publishing houses of multiples, gallery but the multiple store; their salesman
Lisson and Unlimited, in imaginative boldness not the gallery director but the marketing
MULTIPLES AND MARKETING and excellence of execution have had influence. man; their publicity and promotion must lie
Facts. A multiple exhibition selected as a result Many artists need technical help if their objects in the hands of experts taking a cool hard look
of a competition. At the Ikon Gallery, Bir- are to be produced on an economical scale at the situation. Their treatment must be that
mingham. March 4-29. both in their choice of materials and in their afforded to other mass-produced consumer
judges: Eduardo Paolozzi; Hugh Shaw (Arts construction (prices ranged from 1d to £250, goods, efficient marketing techniques of a
Council) ; representatives of `Unlimited'; and I was expertly told that this was not only highly sophisticated standard. The idea of
Kenneth Grange. due to the fact that many were prototypes). hard selling of art objects may initially appear
Prizewinners: The objects that 'worked' best were those that distasteful, but a successful result could have
Raymond Connor Activity Surge £100 were made in the materials of a technological far wider implications than only the success
Michael McKinnon Tumbledisk £100 society — perspex, light elements, steel for in- of the sale of unlimited multiples; a promo-
Pedro Teran Levitate £50 stance. The modern media of utilitarian mass tion of the whole belief and concept that daily
Rose Garrard One Week, Five Days £10 production drew out the best in artists working familiarity with aesthetic objects is something
This competition was intended to provide 'an for artistic mass production. that is good in itself.
open enquiry into the nature of multiple art'. But the large question still remains. Is there a Out of London galleries have a hard time of
It didn't give many answers; it did raise diffi- future, and an economic future, in the whole it; and there are some minor criticisms that
cult questions. concept of art multiples, and especially of could be made of this particular exhibition. It
Only minimal limitations were laid down as three-dimensional multiples? These objects is too full; some of the objects are shoddy or
requirements for entry. The over-riding pro- are intended for mass production, and mass just plain silly; the high pricing—decided by
vision being that the object should be capable production needs a wide buying public, far the artists —of some prototypes will be con-
of production in an unlimited edition. And far wider than the museum world and the still fusing if the object goes into mass production.
the eighty-odd works selected for exhibition pitifully few buyers of modern works of art in But the idea was an excellent one. Full credit
were varied in style, size, medium and con- this country. There is no investment incentive. must be given to the organizer, David Pren-
cept. Lights flashed, fluorescence glowed, discs Logically sheer numbers should eliminate this. tice, and the Directors of the IKON GALLERY for
revolved. Two dimensional works, rather sur- A hard difficult truth has to be faced squarely enthusiasm, imagination and the sheer hard
prisingly, were acceptable ... unlimited screen- and directly; these objects have to appeal work which went towards this competition.
prints, 'penny blacks' and others. Many were directly, on their own intrinsic merits, to a ELIZABETH DEIGHTON