PAULINE Bewick's creation, The Yellow Man, has received maximum coverage, or at least maximum publicity, as a book, a ballet, and also as an exhibition, all of them well synchronised and produced with characteristic elan. The exhibition itself, covering two very large floors, shows more than mere elan; it also denotes considerable energy and planning. In fact, in terms of organisation and producing a "total", unified, thematic exhibition, it might be said that Pauline Bewick has raided the camp of the conceptualists and carried off some of their plunder.
Watercolour drawings, paintings, ceramics (including colourful plates and other "ware" as well as small, impromptu sculptures), specially created frames, large painted cut outs, are all drawn upon in the overall plan, and it is plain straightaway that this exhibition is in modern jargon "site specific" and is planned precisely and carefully for the spaces available. The cut outs, in particular, even if they smell of Disneyland, are excellently placed and everything knits together with style. If the whole thing rather savours of Designer art, there is no doubting that it is done with dash.
As a "fun" exhibition, tongue half in cheek and fingers crossed and pointing upwards, it works well enough, even if the material begins to spread rather thinly on the second level. It is colourful, varied, and above all, consistently inventive. The actual vocabulary, however, is often close to pastiche - a kind of cross between Bugs Bunny and Arthur Rackham, with an extra admixture of Hollywood "cuteness". If it had been staged three weeks ago, it would have been the ideal Christmas exhibition to bring the children to, since Pauline Bewick thoroughly understands the world of childhood fantasy.
Perhaps the chief weakness is The Yellow Man himself, a kind of plasticised and rather characterless, leprechaun like figure who kept reminding me of the unfortunate "Mad Sweeney" motif which so many talented artists wasted their energies on less than a decade ago.
Another negative factor is the gradual coarsening of Pauline Bewick's graphic style, which now relies overmuch on mannerism and even formulae, including repetitious, bulbous curves which half suggest a parody of Picasso. Not so long ago, she drew with real style and finesse; nowadays she draws mostly with a flourish, and the flourish(es) tend to be repeated over and over.
JANET PIERCE, hanging on the inner rooms in the upper floor, has less territory to cover and more artistic weight. Her exhibition of paintings is entitled Soul lands and while they generally have the character of landscapes, skyscapes, or even land and seascapes, the title makes it plain that they are imaginative and not in any way descriptive - "inner" landscapes, you might say.
In this they are courageously unfashionable; paintings which insist on being inescapably paintings, and romantic, moody works which proclaim their romanticism without inhibition. The colours are rich, dense, and with an almost sultry glow. Since they are generally on paper on canvas, or paper on board, the surfaces are often skilfully and effectively worked - at times, indeed, almost like collage.
In the Virginia Suite and certain other works, the imagery is concentrated in the centre of the paintings in a way which remained me of Philip Guston in his Abstract Expressionist phase. And in their employment of a kind of flamelike, glowing motif, other works seem close to Hughie O'Donoghue, though the scale is usually smaller.
They take some considerable risks. A few of the larger works, in particular, do become a little cloying, almost saccharine - especially in the green and blue tonality.
In fact, the smaller, more obviously informal pictures are often the subtlest and freshest since they avoid overstatement and have more innate variety. Yet the boldness and deliberate risk taking of the big, setpiece paintings is impressive and heartening, since the artist is plainly nailing her colours to the mast and is prepared to sail or sink with them.
It is this quality of emotional honesty which gives the exhibition an overall unity and sense of conviction.
