Anita Sinclair
Exhibition at Fitzroy Library, 128 Moor Street, Fitzroy
26
August - 27 October 2006
A Visit
to the Rodin Museum, pen on paper, 17cm x 15cm,
1982
The Hash Dealer in
Polly Magoo, pen on paper, 22cm x
15.5cm, 1984
Review
by Cressida Fox
I was deeply impressed by the
amount of preparation Anita had done for her exhibition at
Fitzroy Library: seven wall exhibits, plus ten 70 x 92 cm
cards mounted with drawings, stories and poetry for the ten
wall mounted glass display cases, showing a total of 57
artworks spanning from early 1970’s to current.
The glass case displays took me through a fascinating
journey, a visual journal, through the life of this artist
and her many journeys of several kinds: her travels to
Europe and Japan, a trip to Thredbo NSW, establishments
visited and interactions with the people there, two trips
to hospital ... In Case 8, Before the Op,
three of the five
drawings were done as she went under general
anaesthetic. Chloryl Hydrate, early
effect showed her own hands, clasping
and unclasping in multiple images. In Further In
the hands had
become simpler line drawings and seeming to gesture the
light and airy detachment produced by the
anaesthetic. Holding On
was a simle line
drawing of what looked like a window within a square within
a box.
Case 4, Before & after
Japan, showed images of Tokyo and
Singapore, the PUK Puppet Theatre and its artistic director
Taiji Kawajijri. This beautiful, sensitive portrait of the
director clasping his hands had a detailed face with the
other features left understated, yet beautifully drawn. The
PUK Puppet Theatre’s first production during WW2 was
“The Emperor's New Clothes”, a bit of fun from
another time and place for children in a war torn city.
Emperor Hirohito was not pleased: Taiji’s older
brother was shot, some of the puppeteers had their hands
cut off and the booking office was closed.
Cases 5 and 6 showed images and poetry from Anita’s
travels in Paris and Italy, places visited and characters
encountered there - the hash dealer in Polly Magoo, Paris,
and a visit to the Rodin Museum; Michele waving his hands
around and the British lying boringly still in deck chairs
at Sorrento, Italy. Anita included a haunting poem on the
beauty and allure of the place that was so different to the
poverty and filth of Naples and other parts of the world,
and described it as being a place where you dare not stay
long, or you will stay there forever.
More characters appeared in Case 1 on women, and Case 3 on
poetry and theatre. Anita is multi-skilled, having done
extensive theatre design and performance work, poetry and
puppetry. There were several female portraits and a
pedestrian in Case 1, and a delightful charicature of
George Bernard Shaw in Case 3.
The seven works on the library wall included three circular
works, monoprints with oils and pen, titled
Zeus, Comic
Book Hero and Comic Book
Heroine, the naked torsos of these
characters rushing forward with flowing locks.
Copernicus
Dreaming was a low relief carved wooden
sculpture, the biggest work there at 111cm long, a splendid
piece. I thought the size and quality of the exhibition and
its presentation was quite a heroic effort, and a very
enjoyable one.