Trusttum in transition

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33814, 10 April 1975, Page 15

Trusttum in transition

Fifteen paintings by Philip Trusttum covering the period late 1973 through 1974 are being shown at the Bosshard Gallery in Akaroa.

1 Trusttum’s work, which > will be on display until April 20, is of special interest, emerging from a period j- of synthesis of experiences 1 received during a first-hand t introduction to European fart, especially that of Van Gogh, during a trip to Europe in 1972. The Van Gogh i[ eclectic works after his rectum emerged into a series ;;of paintings drawing motifs . from his own luxuriant back 1 garden. ' Gradually during 1973. Trusttum shook himself free; of immediate evidence of his European experience, and! these works, mostly from; 1974. bear witness to a reappearing personal imagery. Trusttum has needed fully two years to emerge from a first European experience to the point that a new direction has begun to manifest itself. One can only hope that the trip to Europe which Trusttum is making at present will not seriously impede continued development. ! Among the works exhibited, “Blue Gum” represents 'a final stage of the gardenI works series, directly I painted with patches of [bright colour scattered with- : in vigorous drawing and [ areas of exposed ground col- [ our. “Horse and Rider” and [“Two Horses” (the titles! betray an aspect of the' : works’ origins — der Blaue Reiter) represent a series of i works in which a less ob- ' viously figurative, style has : I come to replace that of the; ■ garden works and somewhat

arbitrary post-garden cranes drawing upon motifs from Christchurch construction sites. The figurative element has been suppressed although not eliminated, allowing colour and form to take over from descriptive line.

“Sections,” a modest work closely related to these in terms of development, reveals something of the old Trusttum linear energy and pulsating colour and surface. But perhaps the. most exciting work was “Vibes,” in; which the plates of the in-; strument and futurist, cine-i

matically represented hammers are combined with an over-all tight network of short broad strokes of sharp, clear colour varying through a number of close chromatic scales. These have become a metaphor for the sharp, crystal-clear sound of the vibes, an adapted divisionist technique now translating an aural phenomenon in visual terms.

The exhibition’s chief interest is in showing a range of Trusttum’s works during a period of transition. —T.L.R.W.