The Mildura Sculpture Triennials 1961 – 1978 : an interpretative history

ANNE E. SANDERS, M.A. (Hons)

A thesis submitted for the degree of

Doctor of Philosophy

of the

Australian National University

November 2009

I declare that this thesis is entirely my own original work and all sources have been acknowledged. All rights reserved.

Anne Sanders

Braidwood, NSW.

November, 2009

Contents

Title Page Declaration Table of Contents i Acknowledgements vi Abbreviations and Acronyms viii List of Figures x Abstract xv

Introduction 1 Thesis rationale 1 Thesis topic and significance 2 Chapter structure 6

Chapter One: Setting the scene 7 INTRODUCTION 7 LITERATURE REVIEW 8 METHODOLOGY 20 BACKGROUND: AUSTRALIAN POST-WORLD WAR II CULTURAL LANDSCAPE 21 Government support for the arts 21 Changes in art education in Australia 25 Art in universities 29 Art education and training in Victoria 38 The changing definition of ‘professional’ 41 CONCLUSION 49

Chapter Two: In the beginning: 1956 – 1966: 50 Mildura, McCullough, Davis INTRODUCTION 50 The Case Studies 56

i

MILDURA ART GALLERY 1956–1966 57 1st Mildara Sculpture Prize 1961 61 Towards a cultural centre 67 2nd Mildura Sculpture Prize 1964 71 New directorship 78 Opening of Mildura Arts Centre 81 JOHN DAVIS 1955–1966 82 Background 83 The Mildura experience 86 Sculptural training in Melbourne 90 TOM McCULLOUGH 1956–1966 95 Background 95 New career 97 CONCLUSION 99

Chapter Three: On the brink of a new decade: 1967 – 1969 102 INTRODUCTION 102 3rd MILDURA SCULPTURE PRIZE 104 New selectors, new dispositions 105 New gallery space 108 Commentary on selected works 111 Catalogue essays: developing the discourse 117 Assessment of 3rd Mildura Sculpture Prize 120

TOM McCULLOUGH 1967–1969 121 Preparations for 1970 125 Professional development 130

JOHN DAVIS 1967–1969 132 New professional career 132 1968: Tumultuous Melbourne 138

CONCLUSION 149

ii

Chapter Four: The Heroic Years Part I: 1970 – 1974 151 INTRODUCTION 151 4th MILDURA SCULPTURE TRIENNIAL 1970 154 Selection process 154 The launch, the judges and acquisitions 156 Participants 160 Selected artists and works 164 TOM McCULLOUGH 1970–1972 169 Professional development 169 McCullough and the 1970 Mildura Sculpture Triennial 170 Gulbenkian Fellowship 172 Fellowship outcomes for Mildura 175

JOHN DAVIS 1970–1972 176 Davis and 1970 Mildura Sculpture Triennial 176 Artwork and exhibitions 177 Professional recognition 185 Overseas in 1972 186 BACKGROUND TO 1973–1974 193 SCULPTURESCAPE ‘73 196 Selection process and the contest for control 197 Selected works 200 Audience: Public or professional 205 Acquisitions and grants to artists 207 Funding in 1973 216 JOHN DAVIS 1973–1974 218 Davis at Sculpturescape 222 Assessment of Davis: 1973–1974 226 TOM McCULLOUGH 1973–1974 230 Local support 233 Sculpture Park Development Committee 234 CONCLUSION 236

iii

Chapter Five: The Heroic Years Part II: 1975 – 1978 238 INTRODUCTION 238 6th MILDURA SCULPTURE TRIENNIAL – Post Object show 245 Selection process 246 Funding and sponsorship 248 Selected works 250 Acquisitions and grants to artists 258 Audience 259

TOM McCULLOUGH 1975–1976 261 McCullough and the 6th Mildura Sculpture Triennial 262 Sculpture Park Development Committee 266 Assessment of McCullough 267 McCullough and the 2nd Biennale of Sydney 268

JOHN DAVIS 1975–1976 277 Davis and the 6th Mildura Sculpture Triennial 277 Professional development 279 Davis and the 2nd Biennale of Sydney 291

JOHN DAVIS 1977–1978 293 Trials and triumphs of 1978 297

McCULLOUGH’S MILDURA SWANSONG 306 Changing professional relationships: national issues 307 Funding issues for McCullough 311 Changing professional relationships: local issues 313 Separation of McCullough from Mildura 315

7th MILDURA SCULPTURE TRIENNIAL 317 Selection process 319 Funding issues 321 Selected works and the exhibition 327 Acquisitions 329 21st Anniversary RGAV meeting 329 Audience and local response 330 Denouement 335

CONCLUSION 336

iv

Chapter Six: Conclusion 340

Bibliography 348 Interviews, correspondence and emails 348 Audio-visual 350 Manuscripts 350 Ephemera 350 Books 351 Book chapters 357 Edited books 358 Exhibition catalogues 361 Journal and magazine articles 366 Theses 375 Reports, research and conference papers 376 Webology 379 Newspaper clippings 383

v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My sincere thanks are due to my supervisor Professor Sasha Grishin for his encouragement in this quest, my supervisory panel members, Dr Andrew Montana and Dr Elisabeth Findlay and the staff of the Department of Art History, especially Margaret Brown.

I am particularly indebted to all those sculptors, artists and curators who agreed to be interviewed for this thesis. I would particularly like to acknowledge the following for their generosity: Tom McCullough and Roma, Noel Hutchison, Marr Grounds, Clive Murray White, Dr Donald Brook, Daniel Thomas and Penelope Davis, daughter of John Davis, and her partner Stephen Haley. A special acknowledgement to Jane McGowan for offering me regular access to the Casey House in East Melbourne; my home away from home, surrounded by Maie Casey’s library of art books and catalogues. I would also like to acknowledge the support I received from the following private gallery directors: Frank Watters and Geoffrey Legge, Charles Nodrum and Campbell Robertson Swann.

I am grateful to Julian Bowron, Director of the Mildura Arts Centre for inviting me to the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Mildura Art Gallery in 2006 where I had the chance to meet all of the directors (except, Ernst van Hattum), and for his reprinting (and reissuing in a brown paper bag!) of the post 1978 Mildura Sculpture Triennial publication, Exhibition Exposition. Further thanks are due to Julian and his staff for arranging access to the Mildura Arts Centre archives.

My gratitude to Ian Were for putting me in touch with Dr Pamela Zeplin, who was completing her thesis on the history of the Australian-New Zealand art exchanges and gave me real encouragement when I was just starting on my Mildura quest. To Dr Jim Berryman, thanks for introducing me to the writings of Pierre Bourdieu, the timely coffee

vi and cheer support and more importantly for maintaining a sense of the ridiculous, an essential part of the PhD survival kit.

I would especially like to acknowledge the excellent staff, particularly Paul Preston, at the Academic Skills Centre at the Australian National University for reading early drafts of my chapters.

I am indebted to the Librarians and library staffs of the following institutions for their support and response to some of my more obscure requests: Irene Hansen, the Head Librarian at the School of Art Library at ANU for her great sense of humour, supportive chats and when necessary an excellent shot of scotch; Chief Librarian, Michael Watson at the National Gallery of Victoria research library for his great patience, forbearance and help, particularly in tracing NGV documents located at the Public Records Office in Melbourne; Chief Archivist Steve Miller and the wonderfully responsive librarians at the Art Gallery of New South Wales research library; the ever helpful Jin Whittington at the Art Gallery of South Australia research library; staff at the Australian Manuscripts and Arts Collection departments of the State Library of Victoria, National Gallery of Australia research library, the Manuscripts staff at the National Library of Australia and the Public Records Office of Victoria; as well as staff at the Fryer Library at the University of Queensland, the State Library of Queensland and RMIT University Library. I was also generously and promptly assisted in my research at the Henry Moore Institute in Leeds and by librarians at MOMA Research Library in New York.

This journey would not have been possible without the encouragement, patience and support of many people. A generous thank you to my wonderful friends whom I almost completely neglected. To my partner, John R Walker, how on earth do I repay you? I’d have starved and it wouldn’t have been half as much fun! My sincere thanks also to Associate Professor Robert Weatherby for reminding me that a good thesis is a ‘done’ thesis. And finally, to my parents – wonders never cease!

vii ABBREVIATIONS and ACRONYMS

AGAA Art Galleries Association of Australia AGDC Australian Gallery Directors Council AGNSW Art Gallery of New South Wales AGSA Art Gallery of South Australia (previously National Gallery of South Australia) ANG Australian National Gallery (now National Gallery of Australia) ANU Australian National University ASEA Australian Society for Education through Art CAAB Commonwealth Art Advisory Board CAE College of Advanced Education CAS Contemporary Art Society CRTS Commonwealth Reconstruction Training Service CID Council of Interstate Directors EAF Experimental Art Foundation IAC Industries Assistance Commission IMA Institute of Modern Art MACAC Mildura Art Centre Advisory Council MOMA Museum of Modern Art, New York NAS National Art School NGV National Gallery of Australia NLA National Library of Australia NCDC National Capital Development Commission NZ New Zealand PGAV Public Galleries Association of Victoria (later became the RGAV) RGAV Regional Galleries Association of Victoria RMIT Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (previously Royal Melbourne Technical College, RMTC) SASA South Australian School of Art SLV State Library of Victoria

viii

TSTC Tertiary Secondary Teachers Certificate UNESCO United Nations Education, Science and Culture Organisation VAB Visual Arts Board VCA Victorian College of the Arts VIC Victorian Institute of Colleges

ix LIST OF FIGURES

Figure No. Title Page

Figure 1 Mildara Prize for Sculpture, 1961 catalogue cover. 11 Cover image: Inge King, Bush Family 1960.

Figure 2 Sculpture Mildura 1964, catalogue cover. 11 Cover image: Norma Redparth, Dawn Sentinel 1962.

Figure 3 Mildura Prize for Sculpture 1967, catalogue cover. 11 Cover image: Margel Hinder, James Cook Memorial Fountain 1966.

Figure 4 Sculpture 1970 Mildura, catalogue cover. 11 Cover image: Tony Coleing, Wind Construction 1970.

Figure 5 Sculpturescape ’73: The Mildura Sculpture Triennial, 12 catalogue cover.

Figure 6 Sculpturescape ’73: an exhibition in Mildura, Australia, 12 catalogue cover.

Figure 7 6th Mildura Scupture Exhibition: 12 An opening feature for Arts Victoria 75, catalogue cover.

Figure 8 Seventh Sculpture Triennial [1978], catalogue cover. 13

Figure 9 Exhibition Exposition catalogue cover [1978]. 13 Cover image: Klaus Rinke, Manipulation 1978.

Figure 10 Norma Redpath, Dawn Figure 1961. 62

Figure 11 Clement Meadmore, Steel Form 14 1961. 62

Figure 12 installation view of 1st Mildara Sculpture Prize, 62 interior of gallery in Rio Vista house, 1961.

Figure 13 exterior view of Rio Vista house containing 62 Mildura Art Gallery and museum, c. 1961.

x Figure No. Title Page

Figure 14 Victorian Premier, Henry Bolte in Mildura discussing the new 75 Mildura Arts Centre model with Mayor of Mildura, Neil Noyce.

Figure 15 Robert Klippel in his studio with Steel Junk Sculpture 1963. 75

Figure 16 Vincas Jomantas, Guardant 1963. 76

Figure 17 Norma Redpath, Dawn Sentinel 1962. 76

Figure 18 Director of Mildura Arts Centre, c. 1965. 80

Figure 19 view of the new Mildura Arts Centre, 80 incorporating Rio Vista museum.

Figure 20 Julius Kane, Group Organism 1960. 87

Figure 21 John Davis, Murray Form I 1962. 87

Figure 22 John Davis, Mallee Form 1961. 88

Figure 23 Mildura Arts Centre, c.1967. 88

Figure 24 Director of Mildura Arts Centre, Tom McCullough with 114 William (Jim) Allen’s Slotzyman and Slotzywoman 1967.

Figure 25 Margaret Sinclair, Fallen Warrior 1966. 114

Figure 26 Mike Kitching, Phoenix II 1967. 114

Figure 27 Herbert (Bert) Flugelman, Equestrian 1966. 114

Figure 28 Darcy Lange, Cadmium Red 1966. 115

Figure 29 Christo’s Wrapped Coast, Little Bay, 1969. 115

Figure 30 John Davis (centre) with students at Lake Mungo during their visit 134 to the 1967 Mildura Sculpture Triennial.

Figure 31 John Davis (centre), with students, boarding a flight 134 for Mildura to visit to the 1967 Mildura Sculpture Triennial.

Figure 32 John Davis, Relief Image 1967. 134

xi Figure No. Title Page

Figure 33 John Davis, Bent on Mayhem 1967. 135

Figure 34 John Davis, Sixteen or 16 1969. 135

Figure 35 John Davis, Maquette for Prize 1968. 135

Figure 36 Nigel Lendon, Untitled Systemic Structure 69-2 1969. 165 Mid-ground: Ron Robertson Swann, Beethoven 1963 London, remade 1968 Transfield Foundry.

Figure 37 Les Kossatz, Spent Heap/Segment 1970. 165

Figure 38 Tony Coleing, Wind Construction 1970. 166

Figure 39 Jim Allen, NZ Environment # 5 1969. 166

Figure 40 Preparation for Sculpturescape ’73. 174

Figure 41 John Davis, Maquette for Comalco Invitation Award 179 for Sculpture 1970.

Figure 42 John Davis, Grass Process Work – Part 1 1971. 179

Figure 43 John Davis, Greene Street Piece 1972. 180

Figure 44 John Armstrong, Big Rack 1972. 209

Figure 45 Tony Bishop, Arcadia 1972. 209

Figure 46 Marc Clark, Portal 1973 and Eva Pachuka’s, Horn 1973. 209

Figure 47 Kaye Dineen, Untitled 1973. 210

Figure 48 Marlene Creaser, Transparent Plastic 1973. 210

Figure 49 Bert Flugelman, Australian Cottage 1973. 211

Figure 50 Noelene Lucas, Untitled 1973. 211

Figure 51 Ross Grounds, installation shot, Untitled 1973. 211 [later accounts refer to this as Environmental Well]

Figures 52a & 52b David Morrisey, ‘1962’ 1973 212

xii Figure No. Title Page

Figure 53 Ken Unsworth, installation shot, 212 Concrete Slab Construction 1973.

Figure 54 Peter Cole, Pool 1973. 213

Figure 55 Ian McKay, Cascade 1973. 213

Figure 56 John Davis, Tree Piece 1973. 214

Figure 57 John Davis setting up Unrolled Piece at Sculpturescape ’73. 215

Figure 58 John Davis, Unrolled 1973. 215

Figure 59 John Davis, Tubes and Box 1971 later renamed Redaction. 215

Figure 60 Kevin Mortensen, Delicatessen 1975 (three views). 253

Figure 61 Alison Cousland and Margaret Bell, Untitled 1975. 254

Figure 62 Jillian Orr, Strung out 1975. 254

Figure 63 Domenico de Clario, Untitled 1975. 255

Figure 64 Bill Gregory, A record of the largest mono-foetal structure on 255 this planet 1974

Figure 65 Tim Burns, I couldn’t think of anything else to do – see 1975. 256

Figure 66 Andrew McEwan Coplans, Capability Recycled 1975. 256

Figure 67 Members of the Australia Council’s first Visual Arts Board 256 and staff on tour in Mildura 1975.

Figure 68 Bert Flugelman, Untitled 1975. 257

Figure 69 Tony Coleing, To do with Blue 1975. 257

Figure 70 Inge King, Black Sun 1975. 257

Figure 71 Ron Robertson Swann, Quietly Wild 1974. 257

Figure 72 John Davis in his studio, c.1974-75. 283

Figure 73 John Davis, part of his installation Place 1975. 283

xiii Figure No. Title Page

Figure 74 John Davis, On the need for a proper delineation 284 in a moment 1975.

Figure 75 John Davis, Ewing Work 1975. 284

Figure 76 John Davis’s campsite at Hattah Lakes, May 1976. 285

Figure 77 John Davis, installation using sticks on the ground 285 at Hattah Lakes, May 1976.

Figure 78 John Davis, installation beside the Ovens River, Myrtleford, 285 September 1976.

Figure 79 John Davis, Nomad 1976. 286

Figure 80 John Davis, Solar Piece 1977. 301

Figure 81 Dashboard of Davis’s Ford Transit van with 301 installation made of found objects c.1977.

Figures 82 & 83 John Davis, Continuum and Transference 1977-78, 302 installation at the 38th Venice Biennale, 1978.

Figure 84 Headline, Sunraysia Daily, 1 March 1978. 322

Figure 85 Peter Tyndall, Shooting Gallery / Ritual Significance or 322 State Your Aim / Set you sights/ Make your mark, 1978.

Figure 86 George Christofakis, Structure III 1977. 323

Figure 87 Adrian Mauriks, Through Square 1977. 323

Figure 88 Isabel Davis, Kitchen Creation 1977. 324

Figure 89 Tony Coleing installing Happy Christmas 1978. 324

Figure 90 Ken Unsworth, site preparation for installation, Shark 1978. 325

xiv ABSTRACT

Thesis Title: The Mildura Sculpture Triennials 1961 – 1978 : an interpretative history.

The significance of the Mildura Sculpture Triennials’ from 1961 to 1978 lies in their role as critical nodal points in an expanding and increasingly complex system of institutions and agents that emerge, expand and interact within the Australian art world. These triennial events provide a valuable case-study of the developments in sculptural practice in Australia and offer a close reading of the genesis of an autonomous field of visual art practice; a genesis dependent upon the expansion of the new tertiary education policies for universities and colleges of advanced education that arose in response to the generational pressure created by the post war baby boom.

Given that there was virtually no market for modern sculpture in Australia at the inauguration of these triennials in the 1960s, the extent of the impact of the pressures and expectations of a burgeoning young population upon tertiary education, specifically the art schools, art history departments and art teacher training and, the expanding desire for cultural fulfilment and rapid developments in the cultural institution sector, is delineated at these triennial events. The expansion of the education system and the consequent expanded employment opportunities this offered to young sculptors in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s, posited the first real challenge and alternative economy to the existing heterogeneous market economy for artistic works.

In order to reinscribe the Mildura Sculpture Triennials into recent Australian art history as an important contributor to the institutional development of Australian contemporary art practice, I have drawn upon the reflexive methodological framework of French cultural theorist and sociologist Pierre Bourdieu and his explanation of the factors necessary for the genesis and development of autonomous fields of cultural production. Bourdieu’s method provides an interpretative framework with which to identify these components necessary to the development of an institutional identity – the visual arts

xv profession. This autonomous field parallels, conflicts with and at times connects with the heterogeneous art market economy, depending on the strength of its relative autonomy from the field of economic and political power. However, this is beyond the scope of this thesis.

Mildura’s significance lies in the way that the triennial gatherings provide a view into the disparate components that would connect to and eventually create an autonomous field of artistic production, that of the visual arts profession. However, the evolution of each of the components, which were the bedrock of Mildura, was driven by its own needs and necessities and not by the needs of the larger field of which they would eventually become a part. Bourdieu’s understanding of the ontologic complicitiy between dispositions and the development of an autonomous field offers a non-teleological approach to the significance of Mildura as a site to map these rapid changes and also Mildura’s subsequent displacement from the historical record.

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