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these works do not set up any discourse, why isn't any work shown here (perth) contextualised by an explicit discourse. The trope of isolation is a familiar one in Western Australia, and very visible in many discussions of art and artists here. [1] neither is there any forum about any shown work, any forum is about the artists talking on without any explicit critiscm. forums are not the point rather the work should also engage something are the artists surpassed and the currator builds the glasses for which the public sees through there is an inability to bring theory into practice, an inability to read work, particularly things like ARX we talk about the work without actually engaging it this article does not engage in all the elements of how other artist fit in. what point is he trying to make about, that this work can exist because there is no theoretical debate, formalism = isolationism The isolation is reinforced in the catalogue essays by there being no serious discussion which fully engages with the issues of art history and theory outlined above.[2] this work is all about developing distinctions but jbl is trying to collapse Alex and Yureik into a Greenbergian notion (language and literature were fundamentally outside the domain of modernist painting) or rather these practices are rather not replicating, (about process, material) the greenbergian rather the work is situated here and reflects/supports the history of painting tries to contextualise but doesn't take it any further than the broader history of painting. dosen't generate debate as a result. it is interesting that formalism of this type comes to a place which is very reductive almost formal and is continually picked up by younger artists. the work here may be introspective because Perth, is introspective That institutions have not been able to provide (and I acknowledge the difficulties involved) more complex and considered arguments around these exhibitions and artistis is very diappointing.[3] and repeated and repeated until traumatised to the point of introspection why here and why now, an imported practice can flourish, disseminating the idea becomes popular, nothing is written about so when you come out of uni you think that what youre doing is knew In attempting to understand this painting what significance can of should be attached to the relative invisibility of high modernism in Perth painting of two decades ago and what might this suggest about the situation move.[4] this happens time and time and time again with all the shows here, no one is taking up local art history local history is not investigated porperly a fundamental flaw of universities here is that local history is not taught it dosen't fit into western european art history we all know about western art history the shifting sand so prevalent here is blown over everything obscuring history. no one who writes, takes responsibility all the historians here are english there is no interst of what goes on here they are in complete denial. we have to put ourselves out and over this context we have the vehicle of the internet which could push this out The visual arts, whether in specific areas as in painting or in more generic terms, however, cannot be reduced to solely formal problems of issues of to a set of basic practices at the expense of an understanding of history and context. Likewise reductive abstraction, whatever its real attractions and the attempts made to provide it with a transcendent, metaphysical of even empirical base, remains as contaminated impure and problematic as it has ever been.[5] we are co-conspiriters to this problem we take responsibility, we debate, by projecting a debate we say we are trying to make these connections, that historians won't do. if students don't have the critical skills (which they don't get through univeristy here) they can't engage in anything beyond defending their own work perhaps the artists should have their own writers who know each other we re-address by talking about this history and re recording it
John Barrett -Lennard. Looking to Basics - Reductive Painting in the Here and Now, FAR magazine Dec/Jan 1994-95
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