Diversity in contemporary Australian Art
Recent criticism of group and theme exhibitions has concentrated on the subjugation of art works to the pet "theory" of the curator. The art works/artists are cast as illustrative victims members of a common and allegedly small field which is being continually reshaped by a premature art history. John McDonald, for instance, scathingly noted that ''work may be caricatured by the curator's chosen topic", and that "emphasis on the curator" overrides "the actual artists'' in the search "for magnificent new themes and tendencies" (J. McDonald, "Romantics under the umbrella", The Sydney Morning Herald, 26 September 1987).
Such critics might, initially at least, welcome the approach of Michel Sourgnes, curator of the Queensland Art Gallery's exhibition, Painters and Sculptors: Diversity in contemporary Australian art.
Sourgnes in a brief two-page catalogue introduction purports merely to present "recent works (all media within the last four years) by artists who represent the main stream of Australian contemporary paintings and sculpture".
The stated rationale of the exhibition is "to emphasise the diversity, richness and vitality of Australian contemporary art". Aside from specially boosting a sculpture content "in an effort to generate a wider impression of the artistic potency of our time", the curator's selection criteria or "theory" remains invisible. Indeed, Sourgnes in conclusion suggests that the exhibited works "escape any easy categorisation and should be considered individually - each speaks for itself".
The curator, therefore, has stepped back from curatorial prominence to hide behind the "easy· banner of "diversity". An expected "dialogue" of interaction between works, and between works and public, becomes the responsibility of the viewer. This is despite the preliminary statement by new Director, Doug Hall, that the exhibition ''was initially conceived
Stephen Killick, Tongue Tied, 1986
Tom Risley, Totem VII, 1987.
