Collins St. 5p.m. 1955

John Brack made this painting, Collins St. 5p.m., with what looks like oil paint, and the date is unknown. What strikes me first is the palette; it's restrained, almost monotone. Brack is using color here to set a mood, and he's not afraid to mix yellow with brown. This is an excellent example of how an artist can control a painting's impact by carefully selecting and manipulating the colors they use. Looking closely, it’s clear Brack isn't trying to hide his process. He builds up the image with distinct strokes and planes of color. He seems to be using brushes of different sizes to block in areas of tone and to describe the features of the crowd. The brushwork is most evident in the faces of the crowd, where each individual is rendered with sharp lines and angles, giving them a unique but somewhat severe expression. The repetitive forms in the crowd remind me of the work of Philip Guston. Like Guston, Brack takes something familiar, and defamiliarizes it just enough to give us a new way of seeing. Brack's painting invites us to reflect on art as a space for ambiguity and multiple perspectives.