‘Christmas Exhibition’

Press, 17 December 1984, Page 32

‘Christmas Exhibition’

“Christmas Exhibition.” Paintings, prints, and works on paper at the Brooke/ Gifford Gallery, until December 21. Reviewed by John Hurrell. Fifty-five small works by 20 artists are presented in this colourful and very mixed exhibition in the three rooms of the Brooke/ Gifford Gallery. Instead of a cohesive statement of any kind, this is more a collection of portable and usually not very demanding works, that are comparatively commercial when compared with more intellectually rigorous displays. Because of this, the show serves as a good, although very gentle introduction for those puzzled by New Zealand’s two-dimensional contemporary art. As group exhibitions that have been selectively curated around a theme, and which have a prepared catalogue and introductory essay, are virtually unheard of in any of the galleries considered important in Christchurch, this exhibition can be seen as a wasted opportunity. However, it is an important reality that galleries need revenue from shows like this to exist, and cannot survive on good will alone. Some visually striking works are shown, such as the painting on paper by Gordon Walters which recycles motifs from earlier periods in his career, and the two “Shield” works by Claudia Pord Eyley. Much of the exhibition, however, is somewhat saccharine in flavour, especially with the works of Hanly, de Lange,

and Hotere. Subsequently works which contain a sense of the bizarre, or disturbingly perverse, stand out as refreshing in this rather ornamental context. Bill Hammond’s painting of cavorting and drinking couples although clumsily executed brings in an element of droll humour, as do the drawings in coloured pencil by Gavin Chilcott. Some works have a quirky eccentricity that is unintended. Trevor Moffitt’s two “Rakaia” paintings lack the impact of his more impressive larger works in the same series. Their well weathered wooden frames aspire to be authentically rustic and look as if they were made by John-Boy Walton. They appear to perpetuate a new school of “rural” picture framing that was first seen round the works of Ralph Hotere. William Sutton has four* exquisitely crafted water-, colour landscapes, three of them being almost identical views of Lake Ellesmere. The best of the lake scenes shows a group of trees reflected in the water, and causes the other two works to appear as either superfluous displays of manual dexterity, or else saleable examples of production by rote, involving mark making as an obsessive activity. The three versions can also be seen as examples of Sutton’s fastidious exactitude. They invite the viewer to discover the differences. Nigel Brown helps build ■ myths by glorifying a dead friend and the activity of art making, in a portrait

called “Clairmont the painter." Brown’s more intimate smaller works are less . awkward than his larger • ones. Probably the most important aspect of this show is that it presents some works by artists who rarely exhibit in Christchurch. Allen Maddox, Helene Carkeek, and Tracey Wilson, while not displaying anything startingly unusual, are. welcome additions to a scene where new blood is urgently needed.