NGV assignment.

i really liked the image by John Brack, called 'The Bar'. i like this image because of its uniquness. it expresses the identical complex form of the human figure. in terms of historical and artistic context this is an important work because it encapsulates the drama of the times. Brack created visual conundrums in his work - between inside and outside, reflection and reality, to question the very nature or representation in his painting. his figures were almost identical highlighting the human condition in images of twentieth century Australian art.

Brack uses thickly applied dark and light colours to give the work a sinister feel in appearance. the bold yellow colours used to heighten the tension when juxtaposed with the dark colours used in the background. Brack uses alot of strong zig zag lines. he achieved a sense of purity in his art between colour, line and shape, which reinforces the symbolism of the distortion of the human form. his use of zig zag lines on the human figure create a sense of movement.

the space created between the men in the background and the woman and his use of dark palettes of brown for the men compared to the bright colours used on the woman and flowers create tone. its used to create depth, solidity and weight.

the negative space that surrounds the firgures is evenly dispersed which creates a sense of balance and symmetry. the real power in this image is brack's use of deliberatly drab colour, often featuring large areas of brown.