Ron Robertson-Swann

Anne Robertson-Swann, Sydney

Ron Robertson-Swann, Rudy Komon, Sydney, 28 October – 21 November, 1970, no. 7;
Ron Robertson-Swann: Paintings, Bertha Schaffer Gallery, New York, 16 February – 13 March, 1971;
Contemporary Australian Painting and Sculpture 1973, touring New Zealand, 1973;
Ron Robertson-Swann Survey 1965 – 1975, Newcastle City Art Gallery, 3 – 27 April, 1975, no. 10;
Possibly a solo show at Gallery A, Sydney, 17 July – 7 August, 1976 or 4 - 25 February 1978

From time to time artists find a form, or a format, which allows them enough latitude to evolve and explore yet imposes sufficiently firm boundaries to prevent them wandering off.  Tony McGillick’s pentagons, Trevor Vickers’ symmetrically paired rectangles, Robert Hunter’s pool table, or Fred Williams’ tripartite landscapes (sky, hillside, paddock) would be contemporary examples.  In Ron Robertson-Swann’s case, the ‘flag’ paintings of the 1960s (rectangles cut into four triangles by a diagonal cross) can be seen to have undergone a cut: about a third of the way from the base, the converging line changes direction and head straight to the top.  The change injected movement.  Whereas the ‘flags’ were static, standing in front of this new series evokes a passage without actually depicting one, since the floor, the wall, and the ceiling are undifferentiated.  The effect on the body is to feel we are walking into the painting.  If the body’s incipient movement is discernible, the energy in the painting itself seems to be flowing upwards.  I mentioned rockets, the artist talked about volcanoes.  Equally vital for the artist is the precision of the colours: he sees them as critical.  Many abstract paintings invite, and survive, being hung sideways or upside down and this one is no exception: upside down it generates a quite different yet equally satisfactory effect.  Sideways, the flow remains consistent with the energy streaming laterally.  This was not part of the artist’s intention but the fact that it happens is in the painting’s favour.