Exhibition of prints

Press, 4 July 1985, Page 15

Exhibition of prints

Kate McLean. Prints at the Gingko Gallery, until July 18. Reviewed by John Burrell. Twenty etchings, and three drawings on wood, are presented by Kate McLean at the Gingko Gallery. Usually her work is seen in group exhibitions and so this is the first completely solo exhibition she has presented in Christchurch., Most of Ms McLean’s prints are characterised by clearly defined, geometrical shapes symmetrically positioned so that, one side mirrors the other. This symmetry at times alludes to the skeletal frames of machines. The flat shapes act as a foil to looser, gestural lines that are softly smudged in contrast. Her large prints are the most successful works. Those in the “Flag”and “Flight” series have a spacious, airy quality. They show flag-like or sail-like forms that billow in the mercy of unseen breezes. These sails are suspended within frames which in turn, are positioned in front of other frames and suspended screens. The images seem to be referring to elements in the sculptures of Carl Sydow and Bing Dawe. By using only a few triangular shapes and perpendicular frameworks, Ms McLean effectively creates tensions not only visually through compositional dynamics, but through the depicted tautness of the

lines attached to the sails. Those works in the “Bridge” series use singlepoint perspective to pierce the picture plane of the paper. Chequer-board squares and thin cables recede into the distance towards faraway smokey hazes. These works, are partly fantasy and partly experiments with formal arrangements. Their ethereal overtones make them effective escapism, but this quality is completely lost in the cram of the small “Crown” works, and in the drawings, where

the surface qualities of wood and paint are very dominant. Two of the drawings have eccentric wooden frames, one a clock, the other carved. Like her curved works seen in previous exhibitions, the presentation is completely at odds with the images contained in the prints, and the works look eccentric, but with no rationale behind them. The larger prints, however, are intriguingly distinctive and well resolved. They make this a very enjoyable, although not very challenging, exhibition.