Outstanding Sydow memorial exhibition

Press, 12 May 1979, Page 26

Outstanding Sydow memorial exhibition

Carl Sydow (1940-1975) Memorial Exhibition. Robert McDougall Art Gallery, until May 30. Reviewed by Michael Thomas.

Why is it so often only after an artist’s death that the meaning of his work becomes clear and its significance recognised? This question haunts the mind on viewing the memorial exhibition at the Robert McDougall Art Gallery of the work of the Christchurch sculptor, Carl Sydow, who died in 1975 at the age of 35. The 56 pieces which have been chosen for the exhibition include examples of his wire mesh constructions, Perspex and hose sculptures, drawings, and some unusual prints which hve not been exhibited previously. In spite of the variety of media, Carl Sydow’s aims are clear and consistent. His work is completely free of representation and when seen collectively the exhibits make a strong uncompromising statement about the abstract qualities of pattern, movement, rhythm and tone.

Dramatically lit from unusual angles, the plastic hose pieces of the early 1970 s have a particularly strong presence. Looped like water .snakes, the colourful tubes writhe through vertical Perspex panels or leap across the floor in wave motions. Mirrored glass is used in the magnificent “Meander II” which makes a commanding centrepiece and epitomises the qualities which Carl Sydow’s work displays. It makes use of readily available materials but gives them a new identity — coloured plastic hose will never look quite the same again.

Moire effects which are made when two layers of wire mesh are seen superimposed on one another, are explored in the metal constructions which the artist made in the latter years of his life. The cubic metal framework from which the sheets of perforated zinc hang are however often too cumber-

some. They detract from the point of the sculptures which is to allow the patterns made by the two layers to flash and dance either with the movement of the spectator, or when the mesh itself is set in motion causing a jazzy mixture of kinetic patterns.

Superimposed grid effects are also studied in the superb series of Letratone and pen-and-ink drawings. These combine, pattern and movement in a very skilful graphic way, they have a symmetry, economy and tidiness about them which is characteristic of Sydow.

Clear edged and precise, they are the direct product of a mind that could not leave a work unresolved. and in these drawings the concerns of the artist are expressed more directly and successfully than in any other works. Carl Sydow was born at Takapau in 1940, and studied sculpture at the University of Canterbury School of Fine Arts before going to the Elam School of Fine Arts, Auckland, for an honours year. In 1964, he travelled to Britain where he worked for a time with two of his former art school colleagues, John Panting and Stephen Furlonger, who both subsequently have become well known sculptors in Britain. Carl Sydow, however, returned to Christchurch after, two years to teach art at Papanui High School and later to become tutor in design at the Christchurch Technical Institute, a post which he held until his death in 1975.

He was a regular exhibitor of sculpture and drawings in Christchurch and throughout New Zealand, but his work was too severe and purely abstract to gain wide popularity during his lifetime. His last exhibition of drawings at the Brooke/Gifford Gallery late in 1974 won the acclaim of critics and artists, and he was clearly emerging as an important independent force at the time of his death. The memorial exhibition is superbly presented. Each work seems important and is displayed to its best advantage. The exhibits are not crowded together, which allows the spectator to absorb each individual piece and, with the aid of the informative and generously illustrated catalogue, to understand something of the man thr >ugh his work. The exhibition will tour New Zealand. It is a fitting tribute to a sculptor who deserved wider recognition than he received during his brief but intense lifetime.