Three displays worth seeing

Press, 28 October 1980, Page 13

Three displays worth seeing

Three Exhibitions: prints by Malcolm Warr, prints by John Drawbridge, and paintings and drawings by Grant Hanna, at the C.S.A. Gallery until November 3. Reviewed by David Brokenshire. The prints by Malcolm Warr are immediately appealing. Their subject is the seaside, the patterns and the light. It is the particular quality of light by the sea which Mr Warr captures so precisely: sometimes golden and, ip a few' prints, a wonderful silver light. Clean, finely graded tones are used over well resolved shapes. There is a strong evocation of the sea but it is always seen with the perfection and stillness of autumn. For balance it would have been good to have had the ocean in a fury or under biting, malevolent conditions.

John Drawbridge is showing a collection of prints mainly on two themes: firstly the original prints used in the book, “Brother Kafka”, by Vincent O'Sullivan, and the second series based on the works by Malevich which the artist saw in the

Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam. The whole show is an effective play of black, red, and white. I confess 1 was unmoved by both these series but the print, “Black Aurora,” I found very exciting. It is’ interesting to contrast the. treatment used here with the series on the same subject by Ralph Hotere. Drawbridge shows a wonderful, dusky night with the luminosity of the aurora breaking through, all worked within a severe vertical treatment. It is a very fine ftork. Grant Hanna’s paintings and drawings are alrriost super real. There is a wide range of subjects in contrast with the other exhibitions which explore a set of variations on a theme. The finely rendered drawings show a rather sardonic sense of humour. Possibly the most successful painting is of a landscape in full sunlight which shows a curious time shift. Overlays from a slightly different 'viewpoint show the scene at sunset. This piece has a curious, haunting quality. All three exhibitions are well worth seeing.