Page 59 - Studio International - June 1972

Inside the Four thousand two hundred images is a well—indeed, one may suspect that prints are,
formidable amount of visual information to be for him, primarily a means of making his basic
Bradford asked to absorb, especially when one is asked to images and ideas more fully available.
look at them all in less than three days; one The technical ingenuity of many of the
Print Biennale begins to feel like a man who has unwarily prints we saw at Bradford was often
entered a roller derby—though the permanent formidable, but the end product was equally
Edward Lucie-Smith damage is likely to be intellectual rather than often very boring. It was depressing to note,
physical. I think there were at Bradford for example, the way in which Hayter's
many moments when the members of the numerous pupils and followers had succeeded
jury longed for an end to this apparently in turning his methods into a lifeless formula.
endless succession of prints. It was only occasionally that extreme technical
Yet to see the whole lot, rather than the 400 refinement and expertise seemed actually to
or so which the visitor will see when the serve as a springboard to something new. A
exhibition is hung, was undoubtedly uniquely conspicuous example was the print by one of
informative. In some ways, prints are both the two major prize-winners, the Canadian
more universal and more truthful than art artist Elaine Goodman. Her image of a shirt—
magazines. The huge entry at Bradford gave which had apparently taken its start by making
greater coverage of what is going on in the a direct image on the plate of the object itself
contemporary arts than any periodical could —has a haunting human presence.
hope to do. And it was coverage without There were particularly interesting entries
commentary: the objects spoke for themselves. from a number of people who have been
Eccentricities of emphasis were due to chance inconspicuously around for some time, such as
rather than choice. John Furnival; or who have been in the process
One or two points emerged very strikingly. of remaking themselves, such as Derek Boshier.
For example, the very large entry from Many of the better British prints turned out to
Eastern Europe, and particularly from Poland, be the work of young artists who already had
Hungary and Czechoslovakia, suggested that some connection with the Serpentine Gallery—
we ought to give much more thorough and the major prize for a British artist went in
discriminating attention to what is going on in fact to Chris Orr, one of the Serpentine's
these countries, and in particular to the major successes of last season.
survival and even development of the modernist One characteristic of the British entry
idea. 'Socialist realism' was not only was the ease with which prints seemed to be
conspicuous by its absence, but there was little accepted as a means of visual communication
sense that artists were struggling against —the 'art-versus-craft' conflict seems to be much
constraints imposed upon them by political less acute here than it is abroad, though
bosses. undoubtedly it still exists. One got the sense
On the other hand, a strongly political that in Britain at any rate graphics were
flavour was to be found in some of the coming to be accepted as a natural method of
prints sent in from the Third World, and expression in a society where quite a number
especially from South America. It was only of people can spare a little money for art,
here that one got a sense of the relationshi p but fewer and fewer can afford to pay a lot for
between the print and the poster. Marcos, an it. The huge upsurge of interest in
Argentinian artist with close links of friendship print-making to be discovered in British art
and sympathy with Castro's regime in Cuba, schools at the moment is also likely to be an
submitted a harsh but vigorous satire on the instinctive reaction to just this situation. q
bourgeois way of life (which was, at the same
time, a parody of some of the more obvious
clichés of Pop art). Segui, another Argentinian
now working in Paris, burlesqued the
conventions of the strip cartoon in a spirit
very different from Roy Lichtenstein's.
Another, rather different point, was to be
discovered in the contrasts in attitude among
artists when confronted by the possibilities
and difficulties of print-making. Basically,
there were two separate lines of approach.
The print-maker could either look upon his
activity as something entirely suigeneris,
or he could choose to regard it simply as a
means of extending his explorations without
fundamentally changing their direction.
The Bradford Biennale seemed to attract
the 'craft' print-makers in particular, perhaps
because it is these who now find it difficult to [The Bradford Print Biennale will be held from
discover outlets for their work. The established 7 July to 30 September at the Bradford City
painter or sculptor can, after all, usually rely Art Gallery.
on his dealer to find clients for his prints as Illustrations to this article are on p. 278]