Exhibition of work by final year students of the Bath Academv of Art, Corsham.

ALTHOUGH THE work on show is remarkably varied both in content and style it all gives off the same sense of abundance. The students have obviously been fully charged during their time at Corsham and in their final year the atmosphere seems to have crackled with creative energy.

The three-dimensional exhibition is a great fun-palace. Mary Devereaux’s gargantuan pipe rack makes one feel suddenly Lilliputian.
What is so disturbing about those enormous objects is that Miss Devereaux has contrived to make them look used. They suggest a gigantic presence just round the corner!

It is interesting to note that much of the three—dimensional work attempts to involve the spectator in some way. It is as though these young artists were dissatisfied with the inertia of traditional sculptural forms, which however impressive or beautiful, just “sit there and do nothing.”

To talk of one painter being better or worse than another is to suggest some sort of horse race when competitors thunder down a parallel track towards an identical goal.

One recognises in these young artists a variety of aims towards which one is more or less sympathetic.

Jean Clements’s fragile, effulgent landscapes are, to me, particularly sympathetic. George Elliot speaks of the vision that can hear the grass grow and the Squirrels’ heart beat.” Miss Clement’s sensibility is of that order. Her paintings transcend the Wiltshire landscape that inspired them.

Keith Elliott is a painter for Whom I have immense respect but little sympathy. He is obviously fascinated by “Systems” of all kinds and by the codes we use in charts and diagrams. His paintings vibrate like some nightmare underground map.

Ruth Rickards is possessed of formidable technical skill for so young a painter. It will be interesting to see if she becomes seduced by her own accomplishment or goes on forging new languages to express her changing concepts.

Each diploma show merits extended comment. One can only hope that next year the College will find it possible to open the exhibition for an extended period. The work is too good, too exciting for the general public to miss.