Mary Kay drawings

Press, 21 June 1984, Page 22

Mary Kay drawings

Mary Kay ‘Prints and Drawings at the Gingko Gallery until July 5. Reviewed by John Hurrell.

Mary Kay last presented her prints in the Gingko in an exhibition of student work from the Canterbury School of Fine Arts, in November, 1982. Some of her lithographs then featured striking portraits of herself, impishly smirking at the viewer. The use of images to convey a droll and at times earthy humour is very prevalent in this show of 26 drawings, six etchings, and one hand made book.

These works, especially the drawings, are very restrained tonally, small in scale, and notable for their intricacy of detail and delicacy of colour. At times their size and proportions are unsuitable for the standard metal frames that the Gingko has provided, requiring something less severe and more intimate.

While some works, like the “Prince and Princess of

Tales,” which shows Charles and Diana as a fox and a cuddly pussycat, are overworked in technique, others are too understated and insipid to maintain interest. Most of the drawings however, work well with punning in the titles and the nuances of delicate watercolour or pencil. This is often combined with Letraset images of the type used for preparing advertising layouts such as supermarket advertisements.

There is a healthy cynicism in many of the works which, combined with a lightness of touch, makes this one of the more refreshing shows that the Gingko has had for some time. Some of the jokes tend to be a bit esoteric, such as an etching of “Albert Hoffman rides home,” showing the Swiss chemist who discovered L.S.D. by accidentally licking some powder in his lab, pedalling home on his bike through a giant paisley, hallucinogenic landscape. Others rely on an understanding of 1960 s ver-

nacular such as “Easy to make,” which suggests sexual availability and entitles images of women in dresses from a fashion catalogue. A few images are shrewd broadsides at the “macho male,” especially some delicate drawings of the bottom halves of plastic cowboy figures. These have phallic dome-like protuberances above the waist which allow the different halves to be reassembled.

The etchings are not quite so interesting as the drawings. Using images such as sequences of dividing cells from biological textbooks, they seem a bit stuffy in comparison, and their dark tones disrupt the informal atmosphere generated by the drawings. Try and see this show if you can. There is a slyness about it which is not too apparent at first glance, and yet underneath the chuckles it has something serious to say, usually about the roles played by female and male. It is hoped we will see more of Mary Kay’s work in the future.