Paul Taylor, After Andy: Soho in the eighties Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane
Edward Colless, The error of my ways Schwartz City, Melbourne
In his brief introductory remarks to The Error Of My Ways, Edward Colless worries momentarily over his writing – where does it fit? To what genre does it belong? "I cannot imagine where it belongs", he says, and "that means I probably don't have a clear idea of either my subject or my audience". While Colless does not write without purpose – these are not idle jottings, but pieces written for publication in response to a request to write, an exhibition or some other event – his own perception of his writing seems to see it as a vague pursuit of a lost trail, a slow walk up an uncertain path. In a way, this book provides a record of Colless's meanderings – but perhaps it is the journey that is important here, rather than arrival at any particular destination.
Paul Taylor's After Andy: SoHo in the Eighties is quite a contrast. Not only is its material firmly focussed on a particular place and time, but it presents Taylor as a writer who always knew where he was going. In the introduction Allan Schwartzman remarks: "He was drawn straight to power, plunking himself down at the most powerful and glamorous tables. I can think of no other art writer who better understood the period, how it ticked, and how to make himself a part of it". Various obituaries, published in the months after Taylor's death at just 35 in September 1992, also remarked positively on the pace and care with which he developed his career although in earlier moments, his ambition was often construed quite differently.
Taylor's selection draws exclusively on his writings from the New York phase (late1984-1992)