John Brack – faces and places

The Car (1955) by John Brack

What I paint most is what interests me most, that is, people; the Human Condition, in particular the effect on appearance of environment and behaviour … A large part of the motive … is the desire to understand, and if possible, to illuminate …

The other day, I went to the John Brack exhibition which has just opened at the Ian Potter Centre: NGV Gallery, Melbourne. This retrospective, showcasing paintings and drawings made throughout Brack’s lifetime, is grouped into several series: Scenes of urban life, Racecourse, Ballroom Dancers, Nudes, Pencils and Pens, etc.

The Bird Lady (1958)

I particularly like the way Brack captures people; stripping them bare and giving them angular, gauche, (often) mechanical faces and bodies.  They usually possess quizzical, shy, secretive or blank looks; awkward postures and a sense that they really don’t have time to be in the painting, but will ’stay still’ for a minute.Brack paints everyday people and places  – suburban scenes, family life, relationships, appearances and behaviour.  He captures their essence, rather than a just a fleeting mood or emotional state.

Third Daughter (1954)

His oeuvre displays scenes of the moment, but not defined by that moment. I get a sense of what the subject’s life is like, once this ‘composed’ moment passes and they walk out of that particular ’scene’.

Eventually Bracked stopped painting people and started painting pencils, which represented people. I’ve seen a couple of these paintings at various galleries, but didn’t quite ‘get’ Brack’s change of direction. That is, until I saw his drawing of pencils dancing on a marble table at this exhibition and felt as if the blickers had been taken away and I could see the people…in the pencils!

The exhibition runs from 24 April–9 August 2009. I’ll definitely be going again.

John Brack Australia 1920-1999. Latin American Grand Final 1989. National Gallery of Australia. Canberra