ART AND ARTISTS IN PERTH 1950-2000 MARIA E. BROWN, M.A. This thesis is presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of The University of Western Australia School of Design Art History 2018 THESIS DECLARATION I, Maria Encarnacion Brown, certify that: This thesis has been substantially accomplished during enrolment in the degree. This thesis does not contain material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in my name, in any university or other tertiary institution. No part of this work will, in the future, be used in a submission in my name, for any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution without the prior approval of The University of Western Australia and where applicable, any partner institution responsible for the joint-award of this degree. This thesis does not contain any material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference has been made in the text. The work(s) are not in any way a violation or infringement of any copyright, trademark, patent, or other rights whatsoever of any person. The research involving human data reported in this thesis was assessed and approved by the University of Western Australia Human Research Ethics Committee. Approval # RA/4/1/7748. This thesis does not contain work that I have published, nor work under review for publication. Signature: Date: 14 May 2018 i ABSTRACT This thesis provides an account of the development of the visual arts in Perth from 1950 to 2000 by examining in detail the state of the local art scene at five key points in time, namely 1953, 1962, 1975, 1987 and 1997. The significant events that occurred in these years had long-term effects on the direction art followed in Perth. At each stage, the examination of the art scene is structured according to the analytical framework French theorist Pierre Bourdieu proposed for the study of cultural production. Bourdieu’s central concept of the artistic field as a site where works of art are produced and consumed by social agents with a set of interrelated functions has been used to identify and research the elements of the local art scene most relevant for the critical interpretation of the events observed. The first two chapters focus on the internal organisation and the relations among the agents of the emerging artistic field that led to the consolidation of modernism as the dominant form of cultural production in Perth in the 1960s. Subsequent chapters study the effects on the artistic field of increasingly complex interactions with the fields of political and economic power that marked the transition towards postmodernist forms of cultural production and consumption from the 1970s onwards. The historical narrative presented in this thesis considers Aboriginal art produced in Perth, which is an aspect of the local art scene not included in previous art historical narratives. Aboriginal art is examined within the same analytical framework deployed for the study of the art of settler Western Australians. The research, in this area, builds on the ideas of New Zealand art historian Damian Skinner who proposes this type of methodological approach to Indigenous art in order to better understand cultural production in settler-colonial societies such as Australia. Thus the study of both settler and Aboriginal art has been based on a similar procedure that involved looking closely at specific works of art, trying to understand the local conditions surrounding their making and reception, and endeavouring to place the developments identified in the relevant international and national contexts. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments vi Acronyms and Abbreviations vii INTRODUCTION 1 1. Methodological Approach 1 1.1 History as Montage 1 1.2 The Art Scene as Artistic Field 3 1.3 Aboriginal Art in the Perth Art Scene 7 2. Literature Review 8 2.1 International and National Contexts 8 2.2 The History of Art in Perth 12 2.2.1 Aspects of Art in Perth: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture and Noongar Art 15 2.2.2 Monographs on Artists 18 2.2.3 History Books and Essays 22 3. Thesis Structure and Chapter Summary 25 CHAPTER ONE: A Moment of Flux, 1953 33 1. Perth in the Early 1950s 33 2. The Status Quo: The Perth Art Scene in 1953 35 3. A Moment of Flux: New Directions 40 4. The Artists and the Exhibitions 50 5. Aboriginal Art and Artists 59 6. Conclusions 64 CHAPTER TWO: Building a Modern City, 1962 66 1. Perth in 1962 66 2. Modern Aspirations: Architecture and Sculpture 68 3. The Expanding Perth Art Scene 73 3.1 Criticism 74 3.2 Exhibition Venues 77 4. The Artists and the Exhibitions 82 5. Aboriginal Art and Artists 89 6. Conclusions 92 iii CHAPTER THREE: The End of Art as They Knew It, 1975 95 1. The Artistic Field and the Field of Power 96 1.1 The Year Australian Art Became Radicalised 96 1.2 Perth in 1975 98 2. The Changing Perth Art Scene 99 2.1 More Art Galleries 99 2.2 Less Art Criticism 105 2.3 The New Art Schools and Sculpture 105 2.4 Old and New Collectors 115 3. Alternative Points of View and New Practices 117 4. The Artists and the Exhibitions 120 5. Aboriginal Art and Artists 129 6. Conclusions 135 CHAPTER FOUR: In the State of Excitement, 1987 138 1. Postmodernism, the Economic Field and the Artistic Field 139 1.1 Perth in 1987: The Excitement of Late Capitalism 140 2. The Perth Art Scene at its Peak 143 2.1 Corporate Collectors 143 2.2 Art Galleries: Residual Modernism and Emergent Postmodernism 147 2.3 The New Art Gallery of Western Australia 153 2.4 Artist Collectives: Critical and Conservative Postmodernisms 155 2.5 Art Criticism: Academics and Critics 158 3. Sculpture and the Expanded Frame 160 4. The Artists and the Exhibitions 161 5. Aboriginal Art and Artists 174 6. Conclusions 179 CHAPTER FIVE: In a State of Diminished Excitement, 1997 181 1. Postmodern Culture: Identity Politics, Revivals and the Artistic Field 182 1.1 The Australian Art Scene in the 1990s 183 1.2 Perth in the late 1990s 184 2. The Receding Perth Art Scene 186 2.1 The High End of the Market 186 2.2 Public Art Galleries 189 iv 2.3 PICA and the Alternatives 191 2.4 Aboriginal Artists in the Artistic Field 193 2.5 Collectors 196 3. Sculpture and Public Art 197 4. The Artists and the Exhibitions 202 5. Conclusions 211 CHAPTER SIX: Conclusion 214 BIBLIOGRAPHY 221 Books and Book Chapters 221 Journal and Magazine Articles 229 Exhibition Pamphlets 231 Reports 232 Electronic Sources 233 Interviews and E-mail Correspondence 235 Theses and Other Unpublished Material 236 Newspaper Clippings 236 APPENDICES Appendix 1: Exhibitions in Perth in 1953 240 Appendix 2: Exhibitions in Perth in 1962 242 Appendix 3: Art Galleries in Perth 1975 247 Appendix 4: Exhibitions in Perth in 1975 (Selected Galleries) 248 Appendix 5: Art Galleries in Perth 1987 252 Appendix 6: Exhibitions in Perth in 1987 (Selected Galleries) 254 Appendix 7: Art Galleries in Perth 1997 262 Appendix 8: Exhibitions in Perth in 1997 (Selected Galleries) 264 v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many people have assisted in the preparation of this work. I am particularly indebted to my thesis supervisors Dr Darren Jorgensen and Gary Dufour for their guidance and support. I would also like to acknowledge the support and assistance of members of staff of the following organisations: Dr Stefano Carboni, Director; Peter Casserly, Collection Store Coordinator; Eileen Jellis, Database Officer and Belinda Eisenhauer, Volunteer Librarian at the Art Gallery of Western Australia; Kate Hamersley, Registrar at the Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery; Dr John Stanton former Director of the Berndt Museum of Anthropology; Professor Ted Snell AM, CiTWA, Chief Cultural Officer; Dr Baige Zylstra, Adjunct Lecturer, School of Design and Gemma Weston, Curator of the Cruthers Collection of Women’s Art at the University of Western Australia; Susan Starcken, Curator of the Edith Cowan University Art Collection; Sharon Tassicker, Collection and Exhibition Manager and Megan Schlipalius at the Janet Holmes à Court Collection; Erica Persak, Executive Administrator; Sarah Yukich, Registrar and Dr Kevin Robertson at the Kerry Stokes Collection; Helen Carroll, Manager Wesfarmers Arts at Wesfarmers Collection of Australian Art. My sincere thanks also to the following individuals who generously contributed their time and knowledge: John Barrett-Lennard, Dr Ian Bernadt, Winston Foulkes-Taylor, Philippa O’Brien, and Miriam Stannage. This research was supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship and an UWA Top Up Scholarship. vi ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS___________________________________________________ AAB Aboriginal Arts Board AGWA Art Gallery of Western Australia ECU Edith Cowan University ICA Institute of Contemporary Arts (London) LWAG Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery PSA Perth Society of Artists PICA Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts UWA University of Western Australia WAAG Western Australian Art Gallery WAIT Western Australian Institute of Technology n.d. Not dated n.p. Not paginated Note on Images. All images have been removed for copyright reasons vii INTRODUCTION The primary aim of this thesis is to provide an account of the development of the visual arts in Perth from 1950 to 2000. Since no such history has ever been published, this thesis fills this void and in the process establishes a scholarly basis for the dissemination of knowledge regarding an important period of the local history. Writing history is above all constructing a narrative. In this introduction I set out the methodological approach that structures my narrative and outline the six chapters in which I have divided it. 1. Methodological approach 1.1 History as montage The span of fifty years covered in this investigation has been researched by concentrating on five key years: 1953, 1962, 1975, 1987 and 1997.