100 Years of the Archibald Prize
Celebrating its 100th year, the Archibald Prize 2021 launches on level two in the Art Gallery of NSW.
Words: Emma-Kate Wilson
The sea within by Julia Ciccarone.
Fozzy by Julian Meagher.
Filipiniana (self-portrait in collaboration with Maella Santiago Pearl) by Marikit Santiago and her daughter.
With a hundred years under its belt, the Archibald Prize is still as popular as ever, joined by the Wynne (landscape painting or figure sculpture) and Sulman Prize (the best subject or genre painting) in its new location on level two in the Art Gallery of NSW.
Moving down a level gives the works much-needed room to breathe, accommodating for the crowds, yet still allowing for an intimacy between sitters. Softer tonal palettes in an array of colours help add to this feeling—it feels a welcome direction as covid continues to separate and isolate us.
Also in a new format, the exhibition opens with the lesser popular Sulman before following into the Archibald and finally the Wynne. The narratives found within the Sulman seem to flow effortlessly into portraiture and landscapes. Artworks like Clara Alodphs Spectatorsembrace the themes of collectiveness and Graeme Drendel’s The deeper you go.
The Archibald 2021 feels full of colour and life, and surprisingly less celebrity. Notable faces include Rachel Griffiths in Natasha Bieniek’s intimate portrait (at only 13.5 x 18.5 cm, it is also the smallest work), Kate Ceberano by Kathrin Longhurst (which won the Packing Room Prize — the first by a woman of woman to do so), and Australian of the Year, Grace Tame, by Kirsty Neilson.
The rest of the prize is mostly littered with artists — self-portraits flittered throughout, including the enigmatic mixed media work by Marikit Santiago or Joan Ross’s self-depiction as a colonial woman. Plus, there are plenty of tributes to current artists of our time: Guy Warren by Peter Wegner, Ben Quilty by Mirra Whale, Wendy Sharpe by Dagmar Cyrulla, and Ramesh Nithiyendran by Jonathan Dalton. Notably, it is the first time the Archibald has achieved gender parity.
Visaya in a c-collar by Pat Hoffie.
Me and my sisters by Eunice Djerrkŋu Yunupiŋu.
Rachel Griffiths by Natasha Bieniek.
“ARCHIBALD, WYNNE & SULMAN FINALISTS: 112”
Making noise by Kirsty Neilson.
Professor Mabel Lee by Hong Fu.
Over at the Wynne, there are more record-setting numbers — more women than men have been nominated for the prize and the highest number of Aboriginal artists (20 out of 39). Highlights include the epic Antara by Betty Kuntiwa Pumani, and Marina Pumani Brown filled with oranges, blues and white as found in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands in the north-west of South Australia. Or the soft and evocative A lightness of touch, a being with and feeling into space by Sydney artist Bronte Leighton-Dore.
In the Sulman, colour continues, the entirety of the exhibition feeling like a perfect retreat out of the brisk weather and without mobile reception down on level two, an escape from covid news. Telly Tu’u beautiful work, Mingle, reflects and bounces light and vibrancy through brushstroke, and in Sally M Nangala Mulda’s Two town camp stories, a bright and vivid capturing of town camp life around Alice Springs.
With covid still affecting us — Kate Ceberano was unable to attend the Packing Room Prize announcement after flying in from Melbourne — Australia’s most popular prize feels more welcoming than usual. A chance to connect us and the arts in a time where both have been deeply affected.
Make sure to visit the accompanying exhibition Archie 100 around the corner to catch Australia’s changing taste in art over a hundred years!
The Archibald Prize 2021 will be on exhibition at the Art Gallery of New South Wales from 5 June to 26 September 2021, after which it will travel to six regional galleries in NSW and Victoria from October.
Dark dad / extremis by William Mackinnon.
Autoportrait by Sally Ross.
Kate by Kathrin Longhurst. Winner of Packing Room Prize 2021.
I listen and they tell me the bush news by Julianne Ross Allcorn.
“ARCHIBALD, WYNNE AND SULMAN PRIZE WORKS BY INDIGENOUS ARTISTS: 25”
Portrait of Guy Warren at 100 by Peter Wegner.