Joanna C. Maglott

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  print December 1963

  Art Grant, Mel Henderson, and Max Alfert

  These three sculptors are linked together through their efforts to project characteristics of human and animal life into their material.

  Max Alfert turns small bits of drift­wood and beautiful stones into religious themes and symbolic situations (Man on a Raft). The natural beauty of his materials is distracting and Alfert intensifies their seductive prettiness by polishing and oiling them. This would probably be less damning were his sub­ject matter not laying claim to consid­erable moral solemnity.

  Mel Henderson’s sculpture has waded off into a sea of banality. He takes an item, such as a pigskin

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  print December 1963

  Roy De Forest

  De Forest’s paintings and collages repre­sent graphs and charts of activities and destinations not accessible to the con­scious mind. His abstract surrealism is handled with a wit and intellectual­ism more typical of French than Amer­ican painting. However, in the forty­-five years that surrealism has been common usage it has deteriorated into a tedious international cliché, noted for its preciousness, overworked construc­tion and false air of mystery. Some of de Forest’s earlier paintings and many of the collages (bordered by carved wooden beasts and phalli) suffer from these flaws of excessive

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  print December 1963

  “Five Sculptors”

  Five young sculptors have built a foundry in San Jose and are casting their work together. It is only natural that they should pick up from each other and Richard Mills and Stephen Daly are often on the receiving end of Holt Mur­ray’s ideas. Richard Mills’ bony figures are more his own.

  Holt Murray casts an elaborate Mor­ris Broderson–Henry Moore image con­taining more design than feeling. This ornate, somewhat chi-chi image is the result of Murray’s considerable experience as a jeweler. Peter Tenau’s sculp­ture is usually a kind of lump-form, the rotting-flesh syndrome so easily achieved with

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  print December 1963

  “From the Berkeley Gallery”

  With their own gallery occupied by an invitational, the members of the Berkeley Gallery were still able to hold a group show in the spacious quarters at Mills. For most of the artists it was a waste of time, since they have all shown extensively in the past year, thanks to their cooperative, and it does them no good to have every wet brush­stroke held up for public scrutiny.

  The work of Boyd Allen, Mel Moss, Robert McClean and Mel Henderson demonstrates massive changes in their orientations. Robert McClean exhibited another witty all-wood dreamship that strongly resembles Jeremy Anderson’s work,

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  print December 1963

  John Roeder

  The Civic Arts Commission in Walnut Creek, trying to stir up public interest in local artists, has taken to setting up quality exhibitions in its library. On loan from the Richmond Art Center are several sculptures by John Roeder, one of the few truly great primitives in America. His art is informed by religious passion and a deep, poignant feeling for humanity. Practically blind and in the twilight of his life, Roeder still must wait for the widespread public recogni­tion he so patently deserves.

  —Joanna C. Maglott

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  print December 1963

  Richard Sorby

  Richard Sorby paints landscapes in pale earth colors. He uses a knife to splinter the colors into little triangular pats of paint.

  —Richard Sorby

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  print December 1963

  Geoffrey Bowman

  Geoffrey Bowman applies torn paper, paint and shimmery materials to canvas in an effort that is at least praiseworthy for the patience it requires. Sometimes he attaches sequins––all carefully laid out in a pattern. Bowman’s one idea is to paint a circle with a hole in the middle and to put a dot of paint, a sequin or a tiny scrap of tissue in the hole. Hundreds of these doughnuts, some small, some very large, are intend­ed to represent a microcosmos. Since fetishism is no substitute for sensitivity, these vividly colored paintings fail to achieve the intimate statement that this sort of surrealism

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  print December 1963

  Group Show

  This gallery is a cooperative which is currently exhibiting the work of sev­eral members. Kai Mel de Fontenay shows a large yellow painting in which a few biomorphic forms have been centered. Yuri Mason takes Rothko’s format and puts a bright, narrow band across its middle, turning it into a landscape. Stephen Daly offers a col­lage-painting in black and white that contains mostly round shapes. Also shown are other abstract paintings, a few wood carvings and many ceramics.

  —Joanna C. Maglott

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  print December 1963

  William Bowman and “Arts of Southern California VII”

  William Bowman (no relation to Geoffrey) makes wall reliefs from nails, pins, string and presentable-looking refuse, such as cigar bands. The nails, or other material are clustered to form a projected surface and are painted in garish, but uninteresting color combina­tions, such as orange and purple. In a note to the exhibition Bowman states that he is trying a new approach to three-dimensional painting.

  No one is going to be taken in by the presumptuous title of this exhibit—­“Arts of Southern California VII.” Jack Zajac, Robert Cremean and John Mason are the only sculptors in the show who are

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  print December 1963

  “Three Artists”

  Carol Quin’s watercolors are of figures, outlined in black with an underpaint­ing of bright colors showing through. Harold Booth makes serigraphs of landscapes and Chris Borggren assembles large mosaic plaques with a Mexi­can flavor.

  —Joanna C. Maglott

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  print December 1963

  Group Show

  This continuous group exhibition consists of landscapes and portraits by various art­ists, mostly done in a realistic style that pays great attention to detail and finish.

  —Joanna C. Maglott

   

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  print July 1963

  George Miyasaki

  Mi­yasaki is a young (28), very good and rather well-known lithographer whose major interest is in rearranging forms and motifs derived from landscape. His windows, circle-sun shapes and repeat­ed horizontals are frequently combined with pictographs and lettering. In this way, he incorporates symbols of the man-made into his landscapes. Although many of Miyasaki’s lithos and colla­graphs contain faint pastel shades, the colors work within a concept of hue that is essentially black and white. There is none of the gimmicky “how-was­-this-print-made” about his work. His technique creates his