Contemporary painting prize exhibition

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33261, 26 June 1973, Page 13

Contemporary painting prize exhibition

The 1972 Manawatu Prize I for Contemporary Art exhibi- ■ tion, being displayed at the ■ Robert McDougall Art Gallery, contains eight paintings, ; half of which are figurative; ' the others are abstractions of various types. The eight painters whose work comprises the exhibition are David Armitage, Claudia Eyley, Ralph Hotere, John Lethbridge, Mary Mclntyre, Michael Smither, Ray Thorburn and Natalie ! Woodhams. 1 Armitage’s painting, “Girl ) with Doll,” is of a larger- ' than-life nude, with a collage ’ face, and nursing a rag doll ) on her knee. He distorts the ') figure, elongating the neck in I'Particular and the body to a I lesser degree. His colour is ); not fleshy, and the symbolism J of the doll is not clear. “Joseph Four Teeth.” by) • )Michael Smither, is also a’ ' larger-than-life figure por- • Itrayal. Painted with sharp fi insight in the Smither “super- . real” style, the child, Joseph, ; leers forward, displaying his I new teeth in the grotesque way that children often do. ! John Lethbridge’s untitled painting is a cleverly painted ’ symbolic work in which man ■ is presented as a cut-out ) throw-away, happily dangling at the end of a rope. What Mary Mclntyre endeavours to do in “Earth Mother” is more difficult. : “Earth Mother” is really a . metaphoric painting, and her ) rather obvious attempts to ) give human characteristics to ’ the landscape appear as a , rather cloying and heavy- > handed exercise. ■ POWERFUL ABSTRACT By far the most powerful > abstract in the exhibition is Hotere’s “Port Chalmers ■ Paintin g ’ 72 -” The literary

: elements from Maori history ■ combine with the dark mood : of the paint in a work that ■ appears to be part of a move , towards a more expressive ; style of painting. Thorburn’s exhibit is another of his suavely surs faced modular series, in • which each module, is placed , at varying angles so that , lighting of the work becomes ■ an important factor in the ' final effect. ! Claudia Eyley’s “Rose Garden Theme, 1972” is a gay I splash of colour but little ■ else, and Natalie Woodham’s ; panels of tonal modulations I complete an exhibition, ! which, because of its small i size, is less impressive than i some of the Manawatu Prize i exhibitions have been. The exhibition will remainopen until July 13. —G.T.M.