Wednesdoy, November 7, 1973

IHE MICHIGAN DAILY

Racge FHve

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By SARA RIMER
"Irnmendons!" It seems appro-
 priate to borrow one of Ameri-
can artist Hans Hofmann's own,
unique words to describe the Uni-
versity Museum of Art's current
exhibition entitled "Hans Hof-
mann: 52 Works on Paper."
About 150 people gathered in
the museum last Wednesday
night to hear Prof. of Art, Albert
Mullen's lecture, "An Apprecia-
tion of Hans Hofmann."
A fitting introduction to these
seldom seen, brilliant works,
Mullan aptly termed it "a labor
of love." Having studied with
Hofmann, Mullen created a clear
picture .of Hofmann as "a very
whole person."
The warmth and humanity Mul-
len described are clearly em-

Hofmann- Immendous.f

bodied in Hofmann's work:
Bori in Bav-ria in 1840, Hof-
man,: lived nd studied in Paris
from 1903 to 1914. There he
encountered the full range of
movements from neo-impression-
is-n to fauvism and cubism.
He arrived in the U. S. in 1932
at a time when American art
w-,s breaking away painfully
from its regimentation and tra-
dition. As a great teacher and ar-
tist whose expression ranged
from lyrical romanticism to pre-
cise geometry, he aided tremen-
dously in the liberation of mod-
ern artists,,
When confronted w i t h Hof-
mann's vividly colorful water-
color, pencil, crayon, and india
ink drawings froth 1943, it is easy
to understand Mullen's remark,

"You don't find a very dark side
in Hofmann."
These wonderfully warm, sunlit
works, mainly executed in Pro-
vincetown, Mass., electrify the
entire gallery with color.
Mullen described Hofmann as
intrigued by the idea of color as
a total language with a private
color factor that was highly
charged and emotional. To him,
"color was the crucible."
Mullen further described Hof-
mann as a "kind of a roughneck
artist. His improvisational draw-
ing illistrates all that's real in
shoving and poking at an idea
and putting it down."
Mullen attributed the draw-
ing's "nice, blippy line" to Hof-
mann's frequent use of a match-
stick or lollipop stick.
Perhaps more applicable in
describing his art than the usual
adjectives is Hofmann's own fre-
qiient use of musical terms. Like
Mondrian, crazy alpout Ameri-
can boogie woogie and jazz, he
often refers to intervals, orches-
tration and snvcopation in dis-
c'ssing his work.
Equally as beautiful and pro-
voking as his colored works are
Hofmann's bl" uk and white india
ink drawings from 1950 to 1953.

Creatirg an exciting sense of
push pll and tension, he ex-
plores his endless fhscin'tion
with the lively 3D relationships
he discovered in the figure. In
Mullen's words, "He resolved the
battle on the flat, mythical
space." (the canvas)
The exhibition includes several
when Mullen points to a yellow
rectangle played against a bright,
contrasting background, declar-
swirling, abstract expressionist
works that remind one of the vio-
lent action paintings character-
istic of Jackson Pollock.
Of these completely free exam-
ples of automatic painting, Mul-
len almost sheepishly admitted,
"I myself have never reacted
very strongly to the squiggles."
Mullen views Hofmann's most
important work as the more
complex works combining the
emotion and freedom so evident
in "the squiggles" with the struc-
ture of planes. One must agree
ing, "That rectangle is a mov-
ing experience."
Mullen peppered his lecture
with personal stories and quotes
from the artist culled from his
years in Hofmann's studio. They
conveyed Hofmann's geniality
and warmth.

About the early 1930's studio
fire that destroyed most of his
Eironean paintings, Hofmann
slid, "At first it was a disaster-
then a relief."
Equally disarming was Mul-
len's tale of Hofmann's "charm-
ing disinterest in posterity."
During a time when his works
were f ailing to sell, Hofmann
would buy huge quantities of
cheap paint to apply to plaster-
board, a weak, unreliable sur-
face. He once received a fran-
tic phone call from a customer
complaining, "The painting is
falling off the canvas," to which
he solicitously replied, "Send it
back. I'll repaint it."
Since opening on Oct. 15, the
Hofmann exhibition continues un-
til Nov. 15. After experiencing
Hofmann's challenging virtuosity,
one can better sympathize with
a woman who studied sporadical-
ly with Hofmann for many years.
Competent enough to make
great copies of Hofmann, she Was
later encountered by Mullen in a
museum. Surprised - to see her
forsaking Hofmann in copying a
Dutch master, he inquired, "How
are you?" She answered, "Much
more content now."

HELD OVER 7:15, 9 pm.
"BRAVO
for this most sophisticated en-
tertaining, and delightfully sati-
rical comedy about changing
sexual mores and efforts, of
couples to keep pace."
-William Wolf, Cue Magazine
j

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'I

Lost Showing before Xmas

NEW WORLD FILMS
presents

Johnson's

'Highlife':

Cultural contradictions

By JAMES SCHIOP
The poetry of conflicting and
contradicting cultural forces was
exposed yesterday afternoon, at
Lemuel Johnson's poetry read-
ing ingthe Modern Langilages
Bujilding.
A West African, a strict Cal-
vinist education, a slight British
accent and a Jewish first name
all come together in the poetry
of Johnson, a Hopwood Award
winner, English professor, and
author of his first book of poetry,
Highlife for Caliban.
Johnson uses tragic characters
from Western Literature as per-
sonas in his poems. Quasimodo,
,the Cyclops, Shylock, Ophelia,
and especially Caliban, the beast
of Shakespeare's The Tempest,
all figure in his poetry.
Johnson sees these "hird
world figures" as tragic or beast-
ly only because of the external
forces; the corruption and arti-
ficiality of "Western Civiliza-
tion" has dictated that they are
beast.
The famed Robert Hayden in-
troduced Johnson as a "superb

Daly Photo by TERRY McCARTHY
Lemnuel Johnson

fiction writer and literary critic,
with a shar social awareness."
Johnson read entirely from his
soon to be published book liih-
life for Ciliban. The poet divid s
his book into three cycles: the
first being the political for-ces
of his background (Johnson later
alluded to his "quarrel" with
his government, the former Por-
tugese colony, Sierra Leone);
the second force being his cias-
sicalteducation, reinforced with
"Western Humanism."
In the question and answer
sessionthat followed thearead-
ing, Johnson detailed his e .ca-
tion by saying he read Paradise
Lost at age 12 and The Odyssey
at age 15. The last cycle ii the
affecting force of his American
experience.
Chronologically this is the la.t
section of his book because it
is the most recent of his pro-
found experiences. He says "If
I start reading poems from my
childhood experience, I would
lose my audience because of its
remoteness."
Johnson entered Americani so-
ciety in 1960 when he camre to
New York City, trained as a
linguist by his government to be
an interpreter at the U.N. lis
wish to teach pulled him to Obec-
lin College. It was at this time
that he started to write seriously.
Later coming to the University
of Michigan, he began in the
Spanish Dept. (Johnson was mod-
estly vague on the question of
his command of eight or nine
languages) and later switched to
the English Dept.
The complexities of his posi-
tion is best seen in his poem
"JuJu." (A juju being a Wrest
African talisman, used for pro-
tection and sometimes against
others.) In this poem the con-
flict is St. Augustine's inability
to love, as expressed in poetry,
and the cruel, pragmatical foil
of an African childhood without
toilet paper, where one wines his
behind on the latrine wail.

Besides the crudeness, and per-
haps the uncalled for streak of
anti-feminism, Johnson expresses
h it m o r and delicateness. "If
Noah," he says, "were a Calvin-
ist, the ark would have been
much smaller." In his "Sengo at
Christmas," a canticle for Emily
Dickinson, the poet comments
how "Emily may have forgotten
that God could be ambidexttous."
It's from a conflicting, alien
position that this witty and crude
poet, delicate artist, and cos-
mopolitan critic paints Highlife
for Caliban.
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KURT VON N EGUT'S

SLAUGH TERHOUSE

FIVE

THURS., Nov. 8 ONLY-7:30 & 9:30

Modern Languages Aud. 4

May be seen with "oyfriend" at
7:30-50c DISCOUNT

Pudgy piano-pounder returns;
decadent Berliner' depairs

* 2 SHOWS ONLY *

By TOM KIPPERT
Elton John's new double set,
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
(MCA 2-10003), demonstrates the
true versatility of an artist who
has come under recent criticism.
The range of the songs on this
important set goes from camp
rockers like "Your Sister Can't
Twist (But She Can Rock 'n'
Roll)" to reggae in the light
"Jamaica Jerk-Off". This demon-
stration of a variety of rock and
pop styles answers the charge
leveled by many that Elton is
too methodic and caters to spe-
cial tastes.
I M o r e importantly, Elton
strengthens theposition
of straight rock 'n' roll with his
rollicking "Saturday Night's Al-
right For Fighting."
The stinging quality of this
tune is displayed through a driv-
ing rhythm pounded out by drum-
trier Nigel Olsson and bassist Dee
Murray. Davey Johnstone pro-
vides a full-bodied, biting gui-
tar while Elton himself fills out
the mix with his bouncy piano
work.
Full utilization of an ARP syn-
thesizer is realized in the moody
"Funeral For A Friend/ Love
Lies Bleeding". David Hent-
schel's haunting ARP leads us in-
to an inspiring piece that shows
Elton's serious intent on these
LPs.

Elton and friend - lyricist Ber-
nie T wpin pay tribute to Marilyn
Monroe in the misty "Candle In
The Wind". This song is only one
exgmrle of the duo's ability to
fuse be-"tif'il melodies with
meaningful lyrics.
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
definitely heightens the existing
ponularity of the pudgy piano-
pounder from England.
* * ,
In flo,'ting through Lou Reed's
new solo LP, Berlin (RCA APL1-
0201), one can detect the British
rock influence surrounding the
artist.
Musical virtuosity, supplement-
al synthesizer work and balanced
rhythm compliment Reed on a
majority of the album's numbers.
The famed exotic coloring that
Reed's music demonstrates is a
vivid continuation of his days
with The Velvet Underground.
The influence of another era is
also clearly seen in his work.
Using devices like acoustic gui-
tar balancing and double lead
guitar lines, producer Bob Ezrin
follows the steps of the British
rock master David Bowie. As
most Reed fans know, Bowie
produced Lou's second solo ef-
fort, Transformer, along with
comrade - guitarist Mick Ronson.
Thematically, Berlin deals with
a visibly decadent atmosphere

presented on the first side of the
LP. This decadence swallows it-
self in despair on the second
side. As a composer, Reed has
always dealt with reality but
usually in extremities (Velvet
Underground tunes such as
"Heroin" and "Venus in Furs").
In the three solo albums that
he has revealed so far, Reed be-
comes most sensitive to despair
in Berlin, and in it's fullness
Berlin presents a maturation in
the career of Lou Reed.


NEW WORLD FILMS proudly presents
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,SUER COLOSSAL
hEART WARM INI
TOE-TAPPINq
CONTINUOUSa.
dElihTf Ut
MUSICAL
EXTRAVACQANZA
Nx
KtRssisPpdctoo

Motion Pictures

JOHN FORD FESTIVAL
THE GRAPES OF WRATH
Ford's 1940 adaptation of John Steinbeck's great novel. A family of Oakies leave
the dust bowl to find the promised land in California. M o v i n g performances by
Henry Fonda, Jane Darwell, John Carradine and even a c a m e o appearance by
Woody Guthrie. Ford won a Oscar and New York Film Critics Award for best direc-
tion.

THURS.: HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY

___________ STARTS TOMORROW

CINEMA GUILD

TONIGHT
at 7 and 9:05

Architecture Aud.
Adm. $1

ENDS TODAY!
"JIMI PLAYS BERKELEY"
plus "REEFER MADNESS"
OPEN 12.45
SHOWS AT 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 P.M.
"A MASTERLY
EXERCISE IN
FILM-MAKING.

LUIS BUNUEL'S
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoise
"Bunuel's most frivolously witty movie, directed with exhilerating ease." - The
New Yorker. Fernando Rey. Subtitled.


' . -