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From: 60G, P
Category: Exhibitions
Date: 10 May 2004
Dear M, I realise you will miss the show of Lichenstein at the Hayward. It is a great show, although they don't show any of the abstract-abstract paintings, the ones where the lines seem to bounce on the edges, creating colour fields, then painted in the late palette of his. cometimes the lines will go beyond the edges of the canvas, and shape the canvas with extra tongues. these paintings are not there, maybe it is not an important series. You would have seen how he developped a palette that always lied to the colours mix-in-the-eye sience of colour separation CMYK. he always added grays, or even green, and not CMYK in any case, but towards the end he used these pastel colours that sometimes he doesn't seem to master elegantly. japanese landscape is a joke I don't understand as well as the mirrors or the greek roman myths. I respect more his way of dealing with myth than, say, cy twombly's. both will not explain much to you about myth, but at least he will demonstrate the historic value of images in myth making itself.
his mirrors are as good as his interiors, as much as his architectural details. you won't be able to watch out for a complex composition with two roman profiles one on each side. a great complex painting.
the american video on show is better than the one on guston, both say how easy and natural the act of painting can appear to the painter's self.
the refurbishment of the hayward is respectable considering it is a listed protected building. graham's screens were shwing cartoon images, the artscouncil collection will start showing from their stock. the exit now passes you through the shop. going down the steps a father tells the 4 year old kid, "now we are going to the shop" to which the kid replies, amongst lichtenstein paintings, "WHY?" father shut up.
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