Page 55 - Studio International - December 1974

because he chose a close-up view and aluminium letters are diagrammatically and fill with sand'). The much- are drawings, the remainder being large
exaggerated the eye's ability to see described; the painting's screenprinted discussed profundity of these and very large paintings, closely hung
around curves and into undercuts. Thus newsprint motif is translated by a inscriptions can be disregarded when but defying the expectation that their
the back of Melly's ears came into view. rubber stamp imprint; the original one considers that their primary richly worked, eventful surfaces might
Flanagan alternated between what template profile of Duchamp is function is largely academic. The combine to attenuate both their
seemed to be an honest description of meticulously reproduced; and there is writing and the stencils are generally individual authority and appear to
the subject's flesh and blood and a a trompe-l'oeil coathanger. The employed to flatten or clamp down shrink the volume of the gallery. In
more underhanded, but affectionate drawing, like the painting, is an the indeterminate space of the drawing. fact, the reverse is true in that each
comment on their personality. Looking aggregate of techniques. In miniature, A lot could have been done with this painting evinces a variable two plane
twice one became aware of a grotesque this aggregate is somewhat finical and space — it's an evasion to patty reading, one being dominant and held
aspect, of the black bird-like eyes of awkward. conclude it. firm to the canvas by a tightly
one sitter and another's light-bulb In most of the drawings, the initial The best work in the show is very delineated interlock of vermiform
shaped head. scheme takes the form of an outline or immediate and usually single-shot rhythms, the other undulating largely
The relationship of art to reality silhouette of the subject. This structure in execution. Jubilee has a broken behind it but locally twisting forward
was less of an issue in the artist's provides a scaffolding — generically structure, expertly layered in a graphite to join and pass its counterpart. The
rendering of Etruscan sarcophagi since related to Cubism — to support the wash. This layered surface — occurring analogue of landscape space so
the relics are themselves a stylization of subsequent tonality. The omnipresence in several of the better drawings — is constructed is further identified by a
the human body. In these small of the scaffolding presents a salient equivalent to the translucent encaustic wide range of paint-mark focus and the
sketches the felt-tip pen was difficulty. It relegates the tonal in the artist's paintings. The wash is use of earth/sky colour sets as in
proportionately very thick and diversity to a secondary role. The erased in parts which vivifies the Tardebigge II and Panorama. The
consequently the detail included had to centre of Broken Target has a dense drawing's monochromatic density. ethos of these two works is firmly
be selective and simplified. In a medium profusion of conté scribbles which There is scattering of stencilled letters rooted in the creation of a plastic
where erasure is impossible, only the diversify and fragment outwardly. which exhibit, for once, a decided use. equivalence for the sensation of
successful drawings get framed so that The fragmentation is without reason The letters are semi-opaque, and their landscapes, rather than furnishing
what one saw seemed to be a light and since the marks are not integral to the presence increases the open complexity redundant illustrative evidence of its
quick effort. Equally some elements of target structure. Inevitably, the of the diaphanous surface. The Ten existence. Beside the placid, dignified
drawing were well considered, in scaffolding is prior. In the pencil Numbers series is pretty good. The modality of these paintings, other
particular contour line and negative drawing of Device Circle, the depicted drawings have a graspable scale which pieces such as Narvic, Altimeira and
and positive space, while other more elements — an inscribed circle, diagonal complements the charged charcoal Indian Reds spawn turbulent
painterly problems were avoided. stick and lettering — academically line. (Indifference to scale is a frequent hierographic forms whose relative state
Catherine Lampert contain the heavily worked surface. fault in these works.) A recent of flux is held steady by the
The centred panels of Tennyson and small-scaled pencil sketch of a light- completeness and balance of their
Disappearance sanction an indifferent bulb is patently quick and intelligent; formal tensions.
Jasper Johns Drawings, Museum of ink wash. Johns's tendency to there is a present sensation. A large Halliday's use of swathes of
Modern Art, Oxford, October, and subjugate the means of depiction to Untitled, resembling the painting respondent colour compel the eye to
subsequently on tour. the priority of the image is especially Periscope, has something of the quality scan and unify the whole, and is a
Johns's paintings and sculpture provide pronounced in a series of drawings of a Constructivist poster, Watchman significant working element in the
the initial subject for many of these based on the painting Souvenir II. has an odd, dry colour scheme, blended structure of a loose but stable matrix.
drawings. The artist's familiar flags, These employ a descriptive technique on the surface. The surface is a little Evident to a varying extent in all the
targets, maps and numerals predominate, derived ostensibly from commercial sleazy — a neat subversion of the works, an energetic directional assault
and the imagery includes the well- illustration. The use of debased or pretentious image. Several early flag on the corners of the rectangle is in
known flashlights, mirrors, coathangers discredited styles can be felicitous in drawings are fine — open and direct, some cases parried or channelled back
and light-bulbs. The drawings are art — but in Johns the transposition is avoiding the later obfuscation. into the centre of activity by containing
usually summary depictions of the not sufficiently rigorous to justify the The influence of Duchamp is ribbons of edge parallel paint, but
source. Occasionally the imagery is appropriation. In the Souvenir drawings, dominant throughout, particularly in generally unrestrained and with a split
freed from the primary work, and is the objects in the painting — stretcher the later drawings. This influence force defined by its residue — a discreet
treated independently. The insistency frame, mirror, flashlight, dish, etc. — leads Johns to suppose (as with many diagonal fault line.
of the subject-matter inevitably places are freely rendered in a quasi- current lesser artists) that the The painting Depth indicates a
a large restriction on the immediacy of representational style. A diagrammatic documentary and the aesthetic are possible move towards a more intimate
the medium, which tends to subordinate effect is introduced to flatten the interchangeable points of view. The and immediate contact with the
the live quality of each drawing to the illusion of all this. But the results are consequent invention in the later painted surface. It has in common
idea of its source. The According to a little affected and finally slight. drawings decreases as the literalness of with the two charcoal drawings a
what drawing typically adumbrates the These illustrative methods are prominent their imagery is pronounced. There is touch that seems less hard won than
original. The painting, identically throughout. The drawings in the an ink and wash drawing of a Fuller the schematic completeness and
titled, has a compartmented scheme of Wallpiece series are equally dulled by map which is carefully pedestrian. balanced argument of earlier paintings.
several panels framing an array of their devious means. There is a painstaking copy of a record Being his most recent work this perhaps
disparate objects and opposed stylistic The drawings abound in stencilled disc complete with label; the disc indicates a departure only in his
elements. The drawing records the and written inscriptions. These refer parodies the targets, and is pointless. working method, since still in evidence
variety: the Abstract Expressionist mostly to objects and colours ('ice There is an imprint of a skull, several are the common concerns of diagonal
brushwork is represented by loose tray', 'ruler', 'swivel mirror', 'red', oiled imprints of the artist's buttocks rift, over-all colour counterpoint and
pencil scribbles and a light graphite 'yellow', 'blue') and to actions ('cut', and genitals, and various Picasso edge-attack.
wash; the painted 'traffic lights' and 'tear', 'scrape', 'line drawers with lead profiles in a positive-negative cup The simple language formulae of
illusion. There is too little that is paintings are not merely given a
necessary in these drawings — a criticism virtuoso exposition here; Halliday's
Jasper Johns According to What 1964 that is applicable to much of the work achievement lies in the effective use of
in the show. That many of the drawings a personal compound language, fusing
are negligent and routine is puzzling. apparently disparate painting issues in
Johns's accomplishment in printmaking a cogent and powerful totality.
— a related medium — would seem to Harry Snook
be considerable. The exhibition is
presently touring the regional centres, Trevor Halliday Orange
and will arrive in London in March. and Blue Perfume 1974 Acrylic and
ft.
R.I. Rees polymer resin on canvas, 8 x

Trevor Halliday at the Ikon Gallery,
Birmingham, 11 October — 16
November
The recent exhibition of work by
Trevor Halliday was only the tip of an
iceberg, representing an intense and
massive effort at his Wychbold studio.
He has made enough paintings in a two
year period for several full-scale
exhibitions of high quality and it is
surprising to note that this was his
first one-man show.
Of the seventeen works shown two