Exhibitions Christchurch

The Canterbury School of Art Centenary Celebrations 1882 - 1982

EVAN WEBB

Last June, the Canterbury School of Fine Arts celebrated its one hundredth birthday. The occasion was recognised in a series of lectures and exhibitions, held at the Christchurch Arts Centre, in various galleries about the city, and at the School itself.

Although the School's curriculum initially included technical courses, the 'fine arts' course has been, over the years, dominated by painting and drawing, and has produced many of New Zealand's best-known artists. Among them are: Evelyn Page, Rata Lovell-Smith, Olivia Spencer-Bower, William Sutton; and, more recently, Quentin McFarlane, Patrick Hanly and Philip Trusttum. It was not surprising, then, that the historic exhibition displayed at the Robert McDougall Art Gallery featured mainly paintings and works on paper - as well as historical records and photographs.

What was not brought out by the local news media, or Kaleidoscope, was the emergence of the importance of sculpture in the School. Over the last two decades this has developed in pace with contemporary trends to the point where it exerts a significance over New Zealand art. Evidence is in the work produced by such graduates as John Panting, Carl Sydow, Paul Cullen, Pauline Rhodes, Neil Dawson and Bing Dawe.

The only recognition sculpture was accorded was at the Canterbury Society of Arts Gallery. Here recent graduates in painting, print-making and sculpture exhibited their work along with past and present tutors. The result was a melee of styles, with occasionally strong images - like those of MacFarlane - surfacing on a sea of indifferent and often tired painting.

vWith calculated cunning perhaps, Philip Trusttum eased his large collages high on to the gallery wall, where they enjoyed a considerable autonomy.

The printmakers appeared more homogeneous in the privacy of the print-room: but the quality of their work ran the gamut from the embarrassingly poor to the excellent work of Cleavin and Einhorn.

All the sculpture was recent - over half being conceived especially for the show. Perhaps this accounted for their strength. Neil Dawson, the best-established sculptor in the show, exhibited a work which, though unusually simple, created a powerful and intriguing illusion. His piece could be juxtaposed with the introspective and poetic work of this year's honours student, Stephen Cleason. Both works illustrated the path that is navigated from the acquisition of skills and ideas at art school to the reworking and refinement of them as a practising sculptor.

Because this exhibition of paintings, sculptures and prints was, by and large, unselected, it provided an honest and unpretentious account of the work of at least forty graduates. As such its value was not so much in the quality of the work displayed as in the opportunity it provided for artists from the School to meet in a jovial and festive atmosphere.

The painters were better represented at the Brooke Gifford Gallery in an exhibition entitled Fourteen Painters. All were students of the School - the most recent, I believe, being Simon McIntyre. In this gallery the paintings were less crowded, allowing the opportunity for quiet viewing and contemplation. It is unfortunate that the same cannot be said about the catalogue which accompanied the show. The '100' motif (designed by Max Hailstone) was bordered by a filgree of art nouveau motifs that resulted in an ungainly and incongruous design.

At least the designers came to the party. Neither the film nor the photography departments were represented at any of the official exhibitions. Out of frustration Jocelyn Alison, a recent honours graduate in film, scheduled a screening of her own works. Those who were fortunate enough to hear about the event enjoyed some remarkably professional cinema. it is sad that, with the emergence of photography in this country as an important art form, and the strengthening of the film industry, some of the contributing talent from Ilam could not have been seen at the Centenary exhibitions.

The most professionally presented exhibition was a collection of aquatints and etchings by Barry Cleavin at the Gingko Gallery. Entitled Hindsight, this show produces some controversy, Cleavin's confident draughtsmanship explored and expanded his vocabulary of visual wit, and those images that apparently offended were too cynical or too imbued with pathos to be labelled pornographic.

Officially, the most prestigious feature of the Centenary was a series of lectures delivered by some of New Zealand's most prominent art critics, art historians and authorities. The addresses ranged from entertainingly general topics, like that of the keynote speaker, Professor Peter Tomory, to specific philosophical enquiries, like that given by Dr David Novitz. The talk by the art-educator Peter Smith evoked a warm response from the many teachers who were in the audience, and underlined an association with the nature of Ilam as an art school.

If there could be said to be a sense in which the lecture series failed to fulfil the expectations aroused by its title Retrospect and Prospect, it was that, though the retrospective aspect of New Zealand's art heritage was accounted for, it seemed to be thought academically unsafe to prophesy in anyway; and so little was said about prospects for art in this country.

The Canterbury School of Fine Arts begins its second century in a new building with a new course structure and programme. These two changes perhaps more significantly marked the passing of the first one hundred years than any of the exhibitions or lectures. The new Bachelor of Fine Arts degree offers a flexibility of individual study that must be unparalleled in New Zealand. The new building provides the kind of space, light, plant and equipment that would be the envy of any modern art school. These changes have guaranteed security for the school and its students - at least in the immediate future.