INFRAESTRUCTURA TECNOLÓGICA

Geometric-Symbolic Period: A number of Jomantas's sculptures are in minimal style. These were executed in the period from the sixties to the seventies. They are abstract, Jess personal, with plain surfaces and produced from polyester and aluminium. Two examples are

Awakening of Giants, 1967

(ill.

202),

and

lAnding Object 2,1971

(ill.

203),

both rendered in polyester. Contrary to the usual definition of minimalist sculpture, these two pieces are imbued with symbolic connotations. Art critic Noel Hutchinson found

Awakening of Giants

'pregnant with symbolic intention' and with 'an eerie quality', and considered that in the sixties this work in polyester was 'quite a technical advance for that time.'445 The coolest and least personal sculptural entity in Jomantas's

oeuvre

i s

Screen, 1968

(ill.

204),

which won the prestigious Comalco Invitation Award for sculpture in aluminium and is now installed in the Australian Chancery in Washington, USA. However, even this purely abstract, geometric work evokes mus1c and arouses emotional feeling.

Screen

occupies a wall seven metres long and is nearly half a metre in depth. It consists of hundreds of rods which by their varying diameters and lengths create a celebration of rhythmical movement enhanced by the play of light. Emblematic-Symbolic Period: Sculptures in this group include a number which refer explicitly to symbolic subjects. Among these are

ETernal Sailor,

1976

(ill. 205), Procession, 1981 (ill.

206)

and

Beacon, 1985 (ill. 207).

These images are reminiscent of the work of the great Lithuanian painter, M.K.

Ciurlionis, and reflect his philosophy that 'life is a journey from the unknown

to the unknown.' �iurlionis influenced a whole generation of Lithuanian artists, especially those linked with the literati. It would seem that, in his own idiosyncratic way, Jomantas expresses the same mystical and fatalistic ideas in his emblematic sculptures. His way of using symbolic images distinguishes him from other important Australian sculptors. In

1974

James Gleeson writes:

He has turned his back on the enticements of Assemblage and is resisting the stylistic pull of such innovative giants as Henry Moore, David Smith and Anthony Caro, yet there is nothing outdated about his work; he has simply developed his own sculptural idiom along different

444 Bill Hannan, Catalogue of Centre Five Exllibition, Gallery

of

New South Wales, 6 Oct.

1965.

445 Noel Hutchinson, 'Australian Sculpture in the 1960s', in Other Voices, Oct-Dec. 1970,

lines from those currently regarded as forming the mainstream of modem sculpture ... each piece carries the imprint of concentrated thinking, long gestation and exquisite resolution.�

Over the years, aided by 'technical virtuosity and consistency'447 Jomantas bas contributed significantly to the development of Australian sculpture and public awareness of it. Alan McCulloch says of him, 'The elegance and perfectionist finish of his style earned Jomantas a leading place in Australian sculpture.·� In

1961, 1965

and 1968 Jomantas's sculptures represented Australia in Paris, Tokyo and New Zealand respectively.

Although Zikaras and Jomantas were of the same age, were raised in the same city in very similar artistic and home environments, and the source of their work sprang from the same Lithuanian folk art, the artistic products of each were very different. Zikaras remained figurative and basically static, although he was influenced by expressionism. He showed more direct reference to Lithuanian folk art and, having an extrovert personality, modified folk art features with forceful expressionistic distortions. His trademark is the elongation of schematised limbs, figure and facial countenance. Although his central theme, especially in the Early Period, is sorrow, he renders it with virility and power. Jomantas, on the other hand, was figurative only in the early stages of his career and his work was more influenced by cubism and minimal art than expressionism. Jomantas identified with folk art more in feeling than form whether in abstract, geometric or emblematic sculptures. Of his work, Lenton Parr writes: ' ... the sculptures ... are surrounded by echoes and resonances, quiet and disquiet ... reverberating like the bell, charging the atmosphere with rumours of other times, other places, old and new alarms.'449

Jomantas's central themes are also sorrow and fate, but he, an introvert personality, renders these themes without force, and in a dignified manner. He uses symbols through which he beckons the viewer to concentrate attention and to contemplate. Following their appointments to teaching positions at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, both artists concentrated their energies on teaching and administrative work and on their own sculpture careers. As a teacher, Zikaras said that he emphasised the importance of originality. His dictum to students was 'Don't be a follower; don't kill your individuality. Observe around you and have a shield. Outside grows a tree. When I draw it, it is my tree; when you draw it, it is yours. The same tree can't be the same.' Jomantas's philosophy emphasised premeditation, patience and endurance. He said, ' Art is not talent; art is labour.'

� Gleeson, Sun, Sydney, 3 Apr. 1974.

447 Jeffrey Makin, Sun Herald, Melbourne, 8

Dec.

1972, _p. 30 448 McCulloch in Encyclopedia of Australian Art, p.

296

For

personal

reasons,

Zikaras

ceased artistic activities

in

the

late

seventies; Jomantas has continued,

even

after retirement, to produce

meticulous,

non-figurative sculptures. Unlike Zikaras who paid more attention to powerful expression and executed

im

puls

i

vely and

with

verve, Jomantas ponders at length upon an idea until the

image

matures and assumes a satisfying shape. The scu

lp

t

u

re is then executed with infinite patience, serenity and austerity,

myth, fate and sacrifice

be

in

g the key themes of h

i

s

work. He

achieves a rare, idiosyncratic synthesis of monumentally and introspective meditation.

Another artist who managed to merge

happily

with the mainstream was television designer and director, scenographer, lecturer a

n

d pa

in

te

r Paul

Cleveland,450

who

played

an important role in the early years

of Australian

television production. Although

when he arrived in

A

ust

r

ali

a

he had not

completed formal art training, his literary, musical and theatrical knowledge and experience enabled him to find his niche. Responsible

for the

overall design of television productions, his work included the creation of

authentic and

appropriate

sets, lighting, costumes, hair-styles

and make-up

for period performances. This

entailed careful research

as well as the use of creative

In document Elaboración de un planeamiento estratégico de sistemas de información para la mejora de la gestión administrativa y académica en la academia preuniversitaria engels (página 127-142)