ART
Strings attached
EVAN ANTHONY
Confused readers able to get to the Annely Juda Fine Art Gallery, at 11 Tottenham Mews (off Charlotte Street) will see for them- selves what a remarkable transformation a few thousand yards of fabric and rope can effect.
On show are the photomontages, collages, drawings, and models of Christo Javacheff (known professionally as `Christo), Bulgarian-born, New York-domiciled, wrap- per-upper extraordinary. Mere words (even mine) are probably not enough to convey the originality of Christo's ideas and the appeal of his vision : 1 can but risk Pseuds' Corner and try.
Simply put, Christo wraps up buildings, objects, people—anything. 1 suppose if one were to ask him why, he could give the mountain climber's answer, 'Because it's there,' or ask one in return : 'Why not?'. The surprise is that it really is an exceptionally stimulating show, despite how zany it all may sound.
The work is catalogued under three headings: `projects not realised', `projects to be realised', and 'realised projects.' Showing the unrealised is a matter of trick photography to show us what we are miss- ing; the Allied Chemical Building on a New York City street, seen standing proudly, astonishingly bandaged, should make anyone who has ever been defeated by plain old paper and string, trying to do up an ordinary parcel, feel absurdly clumsy. You can also see how the trees that line the Champs-Elysdes would look wrapped and protected against the elements and bird droppings; and walkways in parks in Arnhem and Tokyo are cloth carpeted, tempting us to go barefoot in the park.
Pictures of the realised projects give proof that it is not all a matter of wishful thinking on Christo's part. He has successfully wrap- ped up a mile of the Australian coast and has non-trick photographs to prove it. Two early works are rather prosaic compared with the later buildings and bodies—merely a wrap- ped can and a wrapped stool—but looking to the future, specifically to June of this year, don't be alarmed if you happen to be driving in Colorado and see 18,000 yards of dyed orange nylon polyamide up ahead. It will be Christo's 'valley curtain', spanning two mountain slopes 1,250 feet apart. At a height varying from 250 to 400 feet, with enough space for you to drive under. Don't knock it till you see it.
To get back on the rails of convention, try the collection of paintings by Robert Medley, at the enterprising Lisson Gallery Warehouse. Nicholas Logsdail, who owns and runs the iallery, is a former student of Medley's, and both are to be commended for getting together—Medley for giving the gallery a boost by exhibiting his new pain- tings there, and Logsdail for mounting the first major show Medley has had since 1963:
The paintings are quite a departure in style for the artist. Since he is sixty-five years old, it has been remarked how brave it is for him to be branching out into .entirely different fields; but I. should think it more a matter of the natural desire of an accomp- lished painter to further develop his skills and ideas. Mention non-objective painting, or abstract expressionism, and I am more Often than not prepared for intellectual ex- ercises—some of which work, others which turn out to be rather mechanical pieces. This IS certainly not the case with Robert Med- ley's new work. The intellect is undoubtedly there, but the sensitivity is also present and the paintings are a feast for eye and mind.
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