John Hurrell – 29 December, 2009

Five small oil-painted canvases are currently displayed by Milli Jannides in the small ACFA space: five semi-figurative works on five walls.

Most of these are unresolved - works that are inappropriately small in relation to their marks, not cohesive as a group, and with their turps-washed underpainting not integrated with the fuller-bodied top layers. Many seem abandoned in mid-process, as if the artist has given up seeking any image that has compelling power.

Some contain whispers of famous artists Jannides seems to have been thinking about: Keeping Still has trees that speak of Mondrian, Thickets of Diebenkorn’s parks, Caresses of Howard Hodgkin. There is no decisive voice here; in fact the show oozes indecision and wavering - no clear purpose in the image structure. No consistent pattern of thought.

The best work is The Magician’s Assistant where we see bars of golden sunlight raking across a centrally positioned, wooden staircase. The ceiling is converted into a grey, vertically descending wall and brown walls on either side, when hit by the sun, seem to strangely dissolve into floors. Nevertheless, this roughly executed work intrigues with its warm glowing light. An exception.

Thank you to the artist and ACFA for the images.

John Hurrell

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