'Art’ concept challenged

Press, 11 June 1977, Page 22

'Art’ concept challenged

The Women’s Art Environment. C.S.A. Gallery, Reviewer Michael Thomas.

The Women’s Art Environment at the C.S.A. Gallery challenged the traditional concept of art. It opened up the possibility of an art gallery being a place where feelings of social importance are expressed, and questioned the relevance of aspiring to standards of “Great Art.”

Instead of selecting and exhibiting works by a few-well-known female artists — as was the case with a previous women’s art exhibition in Christchurch

— this “event” was conceived as an opportunity for women to come together in one place to discover their particular identity as women, in a situation where their expression would be uninhibited by men.

The exhibition was open exclusively to women for the first five days, and to the rest of the public from June 7. The objects which remained on display after this date, were evidence of the deeply felt n-eed of the participants to search for the sources of their identity as women.

There was nothing phoney’ or “arty” about the exhibits — they were vita!, earnest and candid. Life and art were not separated: domestic articles, children’s art works, craft objects, intimate “diaries,” and experiences scrawled on paper — all these were displayed unedited and real — all equally valid as art.

These pieces questioned the purpose of judging a work to be “good” or ‘bad” — that it was genuine was seen to be enough. Painting, prints, and photographs of a more conventional nature were shown, but these became

unusually dull in the presence of the less traditional, and more direct manifestations. Many artists worked in unfamiliar media and had been prepared “to go outside professional presentation” in their search for identity, and in order to participate in- the group effort. Particularly memorable was Joanna Paul’s “Un-packing-of the Body.” In this piece three walls were covered with lists of words, having broadly anatomical associations, written in felt pen on paper. Underneath each, a sole object, which related to the words, was hung in a pink frame. Although spread out, the whole exhibit had a message which culminated in the box of intestine-like fibres in which a small model of a human embryo could be found.

Allie Eagle’s corner epitomised the show with a symbolic tepee, and a poster exclaiming “Woman Giving Birth to Woman.” Allie Eagle’s paintings were also strikingly original in imagery and colour.

It seemed that the initial aim of the exhibition — “to cross the traditional barrier of ‘Great Art.’ with a notion that women’s culture springs from symbols created in the day to day lives of women,” was realised. The objects on display were

evidence that belief in a cause had led to a breaking of ne.w artistic ground. In an age of increasing alienation between the artist and society, and in a city where artistic values are seldom questioned in public, this exhibition has bravely promoted artistic ideas which could be important in the future. The seed of a new art has been sown — this time by women.