Art
Kenwood Ladies
Evan Anthony
It's always nice to see someone get' ahead, so all good wishes go to two ladies, sculptor Charlotte Mayer, and painter and printmaker Berenice Sydney, who received a rather serious send-off at Kenwood House, where a newish policy appears to be to use one or two of the lovely rooms to exhibit the work of contemporary artists. It is an idea to be encouraged, and perhaps future shows will be a bit stronger than the current one. With so formal a private view (there were actually speeches) the expectations were bound to be high —which may simply be a case of betraying some childlike respect one still has for formal ceremony and august institutions (like the GLC, which is the sponsoring body).
Charlotte Mayer works in steel; her work is unfashionably small (not a complaint), and while she has apparently learned to tame her material, the result is frequently aesthetically awkward. Her circles with bits growing out of them, and her vertical folds and bends aren't particularly interesting. Berenice Sydney's paintings have the air of fabric designs and, on canvas, tend to be a bit boring; some of the small etchings are clever, the scale being just right for the calligraphic doodling which seems to be her speciality.
The Hayward Gallery, too, tries to be generous with its space and with its latest exhibition of large work by three painters the policy is again explained: "When space and time permit we use parts of the Hayward Gallery for more or less spontaneously created shows." Since the current sculpture exhibition has left some room, space permits. It is the show that is spontaneous, one gathers, though you could be forgiven for thinking it is the work. Noel Forster uses a large amount of linen and silk, stretched out like an unrolled scroll. I can't say that I really see the point, but there was that initial compulsion to slide down a long yellow painted length. Alan Miller's quick, large, turquoisedominated canvases have a splashy free-wheeling look and might appeal to turquoise lovers. Peter Joseph is the most restrained, or controlled, I suppose, with pale coloured canvases bordered by deeper colours.
Let us switch gears now for some passionate enthusiasm, the gentleman inspiring it being a Spanish artist, Juan Hernandez Pijuan, who shares space at the Fisher Fine Art Pijuan's paintings, gouaches, watercolours and graphics are stunning. He uses a single object, or sometimes a double or triple image of the single object against a light grey or green background. The objects are perfectly rendered and his playing around with background space is virtuoso stuff. They are cool pictures, in every sense of the word. In the same show, Silvia Quandt tries her hand at surrealism, and often succeeds, but too often doesn't. There is a fussiness in the work that is alienating when it is less than perfectly painted. It is an uneven but impressive first London exhibition by this German artist. 'Homage to I onesco ' is an example of the best of her work
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