‘Stamp of excellence’ on drawing display

Press, 15 March 1978, Page 7

‘Stamp of excellence’ on drawing display

Christchurch Arts Festival International of Drawings. Robert McDougall Art Gallery until April 3. Reviewed by Michael Thomas.

The first international drawing exhibition to be held in New Zealand — the Christchurch Arts Festival International of Drawings at the Robert McDougall Art Gallery — is the highlight of the plastic arts in this year’s Arts Festival. Incited artists from 32 countries have submitted entries and the whole spectrum of styles and contemporary art trends can be found amongst the 187 entries on display. The “stamp of excellence’’ expected of an international exhibition is present in the majority of pieces which have an elegance and panache rarely seen in the work of our artists’. Striking new images brighten the walls and lift the exhibition into a class of its own.

Drawing is seen by some exhibitors to be about the communication processes of the modern world and their works include silk screen printing and photography. Other artists exploit the more traditional media of pencil. ink and crayon for new or expressive purposes.

Ralph Hotere is the only New Zealand painter whose submission for this exhibition ranks with the best international drawings. In his abstract drawing produced in lacquer, ink and pencil, the visual aspects: paint spattered darks, subtle changes of tone, and the half-hidden letters of silent words, are beautifully fused with the poetic content to make a

complete and- satisfying statement which conveys its message in a direct emotive way without the need for any representational element.

Nowhwere else in the exhibition is there a better example of a drawing in which the idea and conception are “bound immediately . together,” and Ralph Hotere deserves the $lOOO prize awarded by the judge, Mr Hamish Keith. There is a small colourful piece by Pat Haniy, but the drawings by the other New Zealand artists in the show: Colin McCahon. Phillip Trusttum, and Tonv Fomison are too introverted to be of any international interest when seen alongside the large simple works from other countries.

Many of these must be seen from different distances to appreciate their message. No. 104 by a Japanese artist appears at close range to consist of a series of black dots each individually drawn. From a - distance, however, the dots merge into landscape forms. The artist has recreated on a much larger scale the process of looking at a printed photograph.

At the far end of the main gallery, “Lieu Fracture,” by Francois Deck, has the clear-cut definition of a print, and it is not until the surface is examined from about six inches that the pencil lines and pastel shading can be seen revealing it to be handdrawn.

The scale of many drawings is a surprise. Hannula’s “Sunflower Dance” is much larger than it appears, to be on the poster advertising the exhibition, and is even

metre impressive in reality: this work might well have been a contender for the prize.

A touch of humour is present in the drawing of a huge black hat, and a Hitler-like face depicted with a razor blade between lips and nose is proving very popular with schoolbovs.

Envelopes, packages, and contracts associated with the , exhibition are also on display: they add to. the international flavour and inform the visitor of the prices of some of the works. Victor Pasmore’s “Linear Symphony” is the most highly priced at £2500. This seems extremely expensive for such a brief dribble of ink but it gives some idea of the prices which famous overseas artists can charge for a drawing. Several other pieces have already been sold. The show demonstrates that drawings, like any other art object, must be directly experienced to be properly appreciated as so much depends on the qualities of surface, scale, and the distance from which the work is viewed. In New Zealand we have to rely on reproductions, and exhibitions off this type are vital if we are to gain an undistorted view of international trends and standards. Barry Cleavin, the originator of this show, deserves full credit for converting the idea into a reality, and the Arts Festival Committe Queen , Elizabeth II Arts Council, and the Robert McDougall Art Gallery should feel well satisfied that this ambitious venture is proving Of great value to artists and the general public.