THE MACHINE AGE

Evening Post, Volume CXXI, Issue 115, 16 May 1936, Page 6

THE MACHINE AGE

SO3IE AETISTIC REACTIONS

ABSTRACT AND CONCRETE

Before trying to find any reason for artistic dissatisfaction at the exhibitions of "Abstract and Concrete," arranged by Mrs. Basil Gray and. Axis - at the Lefevre Galleries, and "Modern Pictures for Modern Rooms," arranged by Mr. S. John Woods at the.galleries ■ of Messrs. Duncan Miller, certain 1 things have to be conceded, says a ' writer in "The Times." To get into:a " huff, and talk about ."perversity" and ! the "cult of ugliness" won't do. It ' must be evident-to any intelligent per- -\ son that these works are serious—occa- [ siorially too 'solemn—attempts'-to give - artistic form to, the con- ■ ditions of. contemporary life, dominated .' as they are by, machinery.and machine products, • and. Mr. Wood's'is right in • saying: "If you travel by 'car or tube : or. aeroplane, live in glass and con- ' crete, move in a world where speed and space, light and precision, are ele- '. ments of importance, you expect an art arising out of this.".. Not only that, but many, of the works are not only pleasing and interesting from a decorative point of view put, as Mr. Woods claims, there is in them, "the emotion inherent in all art," that is to say, in. so far as it is inherent in formal music and in architecture. That many people are insensible to such emotion, and require description as well, does not deny its' ' existence.' Let alone architecture, >there is an aesthetic side to mathematics, and, in :an artistic sense, there definitely are "loves of the' triangles." Moreover, all the works in both exhibitions are- carefully executed. . .-.DISSATISFACTION..''. But "art" is not necessarily "painting" and "sculpture," and a "composition" is not necessarily a "picture," and that is where dissatisfaction with these works begins. Perhaps the best way of putting it is to say that, given contemporary conditions, they are the right tunes played on the.wrong instruments. The critical objection' to them is riot that they "strain" but that they unduly limit the mediums of painting and sculpture.. When Mr. Woods says that abstract artists "are not interested^ in cabbages" he misses the point, which is that in painting • cabbages you get "more out of your paint than in painting rectangles 'or cones or cylinders. The whole question of abstract art has been confused by the reference to what is called "Nature"; it is the reference to the medium that is at fault. To begin with, abstract painting is only abstract in a manner of speaking. All painting which' is. not merely imitative is abstract in some degree, the .difference being that in painting, as understood, the abstraction is through the' medium, -while in these works it is in spite of it; Nor does the question of representation or nonrepresentation apply.' . So long as you use concrete materials you are bound to represent—-is "concrete" in the title of the Lefeyre Galleries: exhibition a sly" joke?—and a dab. of paint on a panel, or. a, lump of marble, -will be "backed like, a whale." The only choice is whether to represent natural or artificial objects—the examples by Piet- Mondrian suggest windows—the artistic aim in both cases b*eing the abstract' effect of relationships .in form, colour, and texture..." As was said, natural objects give the fuller opportunity as also, by'not trying to avoid representation,'they explain away, or absorb, the concerte-materials employed and so release the abstract appeal. A HOUSE-PAINTER'S JOB. Nobody who has worked in collaboration with, a good house-painter will think it a slight upon the kind to ,say that the execution; of such works as Mondriari's or Helion's is definitely a house-painter's job.' Their design is a different matter, but we are supposed; now, to be talking . about "paintings" and "pictures." So far'as'execution is concerned, again, "Carving, 1936," by Miss Barbara Hepworth, though carefully finished, does not go beyond the capacities of the monumental mason. Miss Hepburn might say that she has given form to the piece of marble, and quote. the' Chinese; but 'the awkward fact remains that,1 in giving form to a piece of jade,.there'was always also the intention of ceremonial -utility or symbolism. -. Possibly a'• jade could be found ' with- no symbolism in form, but, then, the actual substance of jade was symbolical to the Chinese. The only symbolism in white marble is that held by certain misguided,people to' the disadvantage of our country churchyards—which possibly derives from the santification- of white'marble ..at the Royal Academy! , It was said that some of the works were "too-solemn,"and, indeed, at both these exhibitions ■ there /is felt the solemnity of persons who find them- : selves, if ever so slightly, in a false position,- and that, we believe, is, the ; root of. the ■ whole business. Rightly : accepting = contemporary, conditions, with the predominance of mechanical : forms produced by collaboration, produced communally, so to speak,' the creators of these works are still reluctant to let go of the , conception of "artist"'which goes with long hair and a velvet coat. Into the machine age they carry over the "individual expression" which belongs to the age of han- : dicrafts.: Let them scrap their frames, dismiss from their minds the ideas of "picture" and "statue," and. plunge wholeheartedly" into what is,■'. broadly, an architectural—hence." communal-^ : context, and they will be playing the right tunes on the right instruments.