Robert Jacks
Compelling vesture No. 1
Before leaving for North America in 1968 where he was to spend
the next ten years participating in the minimalist art movement,
Jacks held two solo exhibitions. The first of these, which
was held in 1966 at Melbourne's Gallery A, sold out with works
going to private and public collectors and Jacks was credited with
introducing a new phase to Australian art.
Trained in sculpture at Prahran Technical College and painting
at RMIT, painting was for Jacks an extension of sculptural
ideas. Painted in 1965, Compelling vesture I is one of a
series of five paintings with a title derived from James Joyce's
Ulysses. Jacks was so taken with Joyce's turn of phrase that
he would often simply open the book and pick a line at random, like
a medieval bibliomancer.
As with many of the works created by Jacks during this period
Compelling Vesture with its predominantly grey colour and abstract
forms, has been described as cool, delicate and sophisticated.