Canvas, concrete, and history at the Mair

Press, 17 April 1979, Page 24

Canvas, concrete, and history at the Mair

Philippa Hutchinson, Pauline Rhodes, Kees Bruin, Clive Stone, Richard Lovell-Smith, Llew Summers. C.S„A. Gallery, until April 22. Reviewed by Michael Thomas. Yellows sing in the Mair Gallery of the C.S.A. where Philippa Hutchinson's numerous canvases splay over the floor and spread in a glorious hotch-potch across the walls. The brightly stained paintings come in all shapes and sizes and make a striking and colourful array. Some are hung like banners while others are made in cravatllike shapes and drape to- | wards 'the floor where I square canvases are ar- : ranged in simple rectangle [and cross formations. [ It is a prolific and flam- [ boyant display which is effective as a total show. [Taken individually however, leach piece has few qualities which would sustain the viewer’s interest for more than a few minutes. On the floor of the North Gallery Pauline Rhodes has arranged a host of “rusty” squares in grid formation. Covering the entire floor they suggest stepping stones as they progress towards the bays at the end of the room in which small wooden pillars stand. These look a little incongruous in comparison with the dark golden brown volcanic rocks which form part of the piece. The colour effect of the whole sculpture is unusual and very satisfying: each tile is an attractive object and the geometric layout of the

floor piece relates well to [ the gallery space. Like the ; painting show however, it is I over-crowded. There is too [ much in it and a little prunI ing would have improved : the quality. ‘Portrait of a Young Man” [ is the most commanding of I the photo-realist works ex[hibited by Kees Bruin in the ; Mezzanine Gallery' upstairs. [This painting would rank [ with the best of its kind I anywhere. , Painted from photographs a subtle out-of-focus effect is cleverly integrated with precisely rendered detail on the face which is seen against a blurred background. Greatly enlarged, the head is many times life size but in spite of this it is seen as a complete shape, and it is the human quality’ ;Of the sun-drenched face ! which initially captures the [viewer’s interest. i Technically superb, this! painting alone is testimony | of Kees Bruin’s potential as [one of our strongest and! i most promising painters, and it is a pity he chose to include so many other inferior paintings and studies in his show. Downstairs a small exhibition of paintings by Dick Lovell-Smith — which date [from 1947 — confirms his reputation as a competent representational painter of very limited output, and a talented draughtsman. Although there are few drawings on display each one that is shown has a certain spirit and shows a sensitive eye, an underlying

h knowledge of anatomy and s versatile and spontaneous s use of media. ) The freedom to be found ■ in the drawings is not eviI dent in the latest painting entitled “The Fissure" which ’ appears over-detailed and ' laboured. Every' part is painted with equal emphasis . and there is no focal point to the composition, or single : statement presented. I In the Front Gallery Llewelyn Summers exhibits figurative sculpture in cement fondu. terracotta and wood together with drawings of the female figure. Most three dimensional works and the pencil drawn studies consist of representations of very simple forms which have ’ little resemblance to reality. This does not seem to matter in the carved oak pieces — especially No. 5 “Danae 1” where the forms relate well [and are sufficiently harmonious in themselves to be [acceptable to the eye as abstractions. The drawings and cement fondu figures, however, are distinctly bad from an academic and aesthetic point of view because of the unconvincing anatomy and artless forms. Clive Stone’s photography display in the Print Room, — a series of prints taken from half-plate glass negatives found in an Auckland home which date from 19001920 — makes a fascinating collection and is intriguing to study from the historical as well as the technical point of view.