John Brack x Noel McKenna: A face in the mirror brings together the work of two influential Australian artists. Presented as a playful exchange of more than 90 works, the exhibition maps the clear aesthetic and thematic lineages between the artists who worked almost half a century apart. This exhibition offers new ways of thinking about each artist’s work and the echoes that reverberate between them.
Both artists draw on the texture of modern life, offering a social commentary that is at times satirical, and always wry, yet tempered by sympathy and compassion. More explicit connections slyly emerge the longer you look: the personalities of the racetrack, figures in sparsely furnished interiors or apparently unremarkable suburban landscapes, and their shared tendency towards compositional flatness. These artists have carved their own paths, operating outside artistic trends. Concerned with the interior and interiority, Brack and McKenna have each pursued a portraiture practice that is nuanced and emotionally astute, carrying tenderness that cuts through with humour that is dry and deadpan but still delights.
[Dr Joseph Brown with Two Typists, 1996 Noel McKenna. © Noel McKenna/Copyright Agency, 2024. John Brack ‘Two Typists’ 1955 is kindly reproduced with permission from Helen Brack; Visitor in the John Brack x Noel McKenna: A face in the mirror exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, featuring John Brack’s Latin American Grand Final 1969. National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. Purchased 1981 © Helen Brack; Visitors in the John Brack x Noel McKenna: A face in the mirror exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, featuring John Brack’s The chase 1959. Art Gallery of Ballarat. Donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by the Brack family in 2022 © Helen Brack; Visitors in the John Brack x Noel McKenna: A face in the mirror exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, featuring works by Noel McKenna and John Brack © Noel McKenna, Helen Brack]
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