‘Forms and Feelings’

Press, 12 July 1988, Page 21

‘Forms and Feelings’

“Forms and Feelings.” Sculptural works by Chris Knight at the Several Arts Upstairs Gallery until July 14. Reviewed by Pat Unger.

“Forms and Feelings” are sculptured objects exhibited by Chris Knight at the Several Arts Gallery. Wall-hung paintings by Paulina Currie, Alan Mac Lean and Paul Drake “give variety” to this floor and pedestal show. In all, 34 sculptures and 13 paintings cram the gallery space. The diversity distracts and dampens imaginative response, but does recall to mind that nostalgic and pertinent challenge from the past — “Less is More.”

Knight’s works fall into three categories. The first, “Bust of Rasputin,” “Bust of Jimi Hendrix,” “Love Sculptures” and others follow the representations of Auguste Rodin and Medardo Rosso, with their figurative gestures and impressionistic surfaces. As a way of learning the craft of sculpture, they are perfectly valid and, in this setting, unpretentious.

The second group of

works show a desire to get below the veneer of reality and uncover life’s armature — the skeleton and, in particular, the skull. Skulls of “Pig,” “Badger,” “Turtle,” “Shag,” “Phoenix” and humans have their own beauty here. Simple, bone-ivory, unadorned and sandpaper-smooth they monumentalise Nature’s hard-but-perfect protective headgear. The more libertine “Cathedrals of the Mind” still echos imaginative reality, appealingly. However, to escape the felt lack of newness and to develop his own sculptural language, while exploring “wonderful interior spaces” creatively, Knight goes further; some would say over the top. Returning to the bust format, but with innovations, the works vary between

the tacky Art Deco and Futurist Shangrila’s culled from surreal dreams. And all in lolly colours with a brilliant glaze finish. Nos. 12 to 27 must surely be ideal gifts for Yuppies. In works such as “Contessa,” "Shahdaroba” and "Grace” soft tissues are “skeletonised.” Strips of face, of cute expression, of posed arm, of macho stare and punk hair are both sharp-edged and holed in an amazing Gruyere-cheese fashion. None appears to be about the rejection of convention or the significance of dimension for their own sakes. They seem more concerned with fun. These colour confections contrast strangely with No. 1, “Fortunes of War,” in which a soldier sits in a dead man’s skull playing with dice. One could question the suitability of having such disparate work in an exhibition.

These latter works rely not on insight gained from the exploration of interior space, but on mannered tricks and affectations of style and surface finish. They should be seen to be believed.

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