Alumna to host retrospective of noted artist

December 2007

Gumleaf Dam (1988) by John Brock

Alumna Joy Herman (MA 2007) will host a retrospective exhibition this month to celebrate the artwork of her late brother. The works of painter, teacher and businessman John Brock will be on display at the Glen Eira City Council Gallery.

Ms Herman set her sights on holding the exhibition 14 years ago, after Mr Brock’s untimely death in 1993. When she retired, Ms Herman enrolled in a Master of Biography and Life Writing at Monash and wrote a minor thesis about her brother’s life.

Mr Brock was an abstract expressionist. His paintings, mainly oil on canvas, are a contemporary vision of the Australian landscape. Ms Herman said that they were inspired by visits to the Yarra Valley, Howqua Valley, Mount Macedon and Uluru.

“He tended to focused on the tree and its relationship to man and was well-known for his handling of colour,” Ms Herman said.

As part of her thesis, Ms Herman interviewed Mr Brock’s friends, family and business associates.

“I wanted to know more about John, not just about him as a brother but as an artist and a business person,” she said.

The exhibition will feature artworks painted between 1966 and 1989 covering his Window Series, Textual Landscapes and the Painted Metaphors of Uluru and Kutajula. Selected paintings will be available for purchase.

‘John Brock Retrospective’
6-16 December

Location: Glen Eira City Council Gallery, corner of Glen Eira and Hawthorn Roads, Caulfield VIC (Melway: 68A2)
Opening hours: Monday-Friday 10am-5pm and Saturday and Sunday 1-5pm

Prominent Australian painter Dr Victor Majzner will open the exhibition at 6pm on Wednesday 5 December (all welcome, no RSVP necessary).