Page 21 - Studio International - February 1972

the Bull Ring and Swallow Street; they plan to The Orangerie's Van Gogh exhibition, Art and industry
move again in June. comprising 112 paintings and 100 drawings,
many of them taken from the collection of
The Tate Gallery is planning a number of Dr V. W. Van Gogh, Theo's son and Vincent's
small exhibitions for the period February 24— nephew, is open until 2 April.
March 23. These exhibitions, the Gallery claims,
are not intended to be taken together as any kind The International Spring Art Fair in Berlin
of coherent statement about the condition of art is to specialize in multiples and graphics. The
now, but all are contemporary and they do have dates of the Fair are April 27—May I 1972.
certain things in common.
'None of the pieces in the show will The Gardner Centre Gallery will be
correspond to what many visitors to the Tate presenting an exhibition of objects and
think of as a picture or sculpture, but all relate to constructions by the German artist Felicity
the tradition of art as it has developed and so it is Sommer from 15 February—11 March, as an Last December an emergency meeting was
appropriate to show them in an art gallery. All integral part of the forthcoming Festival of held in Madrid to discuss the threat to the art
of them require the visitor to think or to explore Contemporary German Arts. Felicity Sommer, treasures in the Prado Museum from vehicle
as well as to see and to react with feeling. All or who will be Artist in Residence at the Centre exhausts and factory smoke in the city. Perhaps
many of them will involve time in a more from I I January to 28 March, has until now been this is one of the more dramatic of recent
explicit way then conventional paintings and working and studying in Düsseldorf under confrontations between art and industry, yet it
sculptures and all seem to demonstrate a Joseph Beuys. The Festival is organized by the is symptomatic of a situation in which capitalist
consciousness of the physical and institutional Gardner Centre and will take place at the society finds itself increasingly incapable of
character of the gallery in which they are to be Centre, the Brighton Film Theatre and the fulfilling contradictory demands between
shown. These things they have in common with Brighton Polytechnic. 'culture' and industrial development, a
a great deal of contemporary art.' situation in which the artist finds himself
The show is planned in two parts. Ork The Redfern Gallery has recently exhibited uncomfortably sandwiched.
comprises three exhibitions which will be open smaller works, maquettes and drawings of 14 Numerous attempts have been made to get
to the public for the full 4 weeks including work artists exhibiting at The Royal Academy of Arts round these contradictions since a resolution
by Keith Arnatt — a group of works including a in 'British Sculptors '72'. The first exhibition of would be attractive both to artists, who might
digital counter — and photographs and the written contemporary German graphic art was shown hope to benefit from the patronage of industry,
word—and Michael Craig-Martin — three pieces at the Redfern in November 1970 and in as well as to those industrialists who see in any
using mirrors. A larger space will be devoted to a December last year they had an exhibition of contradiction an impediment to the efficient
series of short exhibitions including a German graphics of four generations. running of an industrial economy, and in
'retrospective' of Bruce McLean which will be artists a potential threat to the stability of such
open for one day only and recent large drawings The British Steel Corporation is holding an an economy.
by Bob Law. 'Art in Steel' exhibition in April. It is being The problem, however, is that there are no
Also exhibiting will be David Tremlett, organized by Ogilvy, Benson and Mather, the 'solutions' as such, since there is no clearly-
Joseph Beuys and Hamish Fulton. advertising agency, and they would like to hear defined art/industry relationship accessible to
from any artist at present working in any form simple analysis. Rather the two relate to one
Focus Art Gallery, 11 Motcomb Street, of medium using steel. The address is another at a number of levels, and it is
London SW1, opened with an exhibition of Brettenham House, Lancaster Place, London confusion between these levels that often leads
work by Pierre Gaste on January 14. The gallery WC2 (Tel. 01-930 5661). to the failure of attempts at integration.
aims to show the work of established artists of Any social activity, from fighting a war to
the Young Contemporary French School during The Francis Bacon Exhibition which was running an educational system, requires three
1972, but also stocks work by young British recently held in Paris is to open at the basic independent factors : a set of appropriate
artists. The director is Jean-Pierre Martel. Kunsthalle in Dusseldorf, March 7 — May 7. skills and techniques, a set of rules governing
the organization and behaviour of the
Conway Lloyd Morgan has been appointed The British Council Annual Report has individuals engaged in the activity, and an
Manager of Bear Lane Gallery, Oxford, as from been published and can be obtained from The incentive that is related to its social context.
January. He is familiar with the gallery as he British Council, 65 Davies Street, London Within Western industry, the techniques
initiated and supervised the organization of the W1Y 2AA, or through any bookseller—price 15p. are provided by science and technology, the
Denise René Multiples exhibition in January organizational rules are those which govern the
1971. Nick Waterlow, the previous Director, has The Contemporary Art Society Annual mechanics of the production of any commodity,
resigned his post and is now a member of the Report 1970/71 has been published and copies and the social incentives those dictated by the
Joint Steering Committee set up by the Museum can be obtained from The Tate Gallery, demands of a capitalist economy. The activity
of Modern Art and Bear Lane Gallery to work Millbank, London SW1. of art is determined in a similar way, requiring
towards amalgamation. a set of skills, a supportive social structure, and
Artists v. Poets. The final score-line was a fair an incentive for putting these skills to use.
Gene Davis has been commissioned to do a indication of the superiority of the artists' side If we now compare art and industry on each
painting by the Philadelphia Museum of Art in their football match against the poets at the of these three levels, certain factors become
414 feet long and eight traffic lanes wide. The Charlton Athletic ground in January. All skill immediately apparent. On the purely
painting is called Franklin's Footpath and Davis and aggression, the football of the artists was of technological level, since the value of a
was helped by a crew of Philadelphia unbelievably high quality. The bewildered material or technique is totally determined by
school-children to execute the work. It is literati were forced to desperate expedients in its context, there is nothing implicitly
painted on a cul-de-sac just below the streets of their attempts to counter the surge of the contradictory in an artist working with
the museum used for parking, and used 300 artistic attack, but to no avail. Outstanding computers or new materials which have been
gallons of paint. The work is made up of eighty players in the artists' team were Barry developed to fill industrial needs. Indeed it is
one-foot stripes in fifteen different colours. Flanagan, Tom Phillips and Richard Hamilton. often more appropriate for contemporary
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