Art Guide 10 Artists Selection
To mark the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Archibald Prize, Art Guide asked 10 Australian artists to each choose a past winner, one from each decade. Their choices form a fascinating snapshot of a prize that – by highlighting who is sitting for which artists (as well as who isn’t being represented on either side of the canvas) – continues to paint a portrait of a changing nation.
“There’s an energy and empathy in this painting that I find almost too difficult to pin down, or maybe just too moving to put into words.”
“Apparently Paul Klee said that ‘Drawing is taking a line for a walk,’ but in this painting the artist takes the line for a marathon, totally pushing the limits of what can be achieved in line drawing,” Pittock says. “There’s an energy and empathy in this painting that I find almost too difficult to pin down, or maybe just too moving to put into words.”
Kenny Pittock, a sculptor and painter known for putting his own cheeky spin on pop art, says that he has entered the Archibald a couple of times, but has not yet been selected. He adds that he has also had his portrait painted for the prize, but then admits “technically, it was a self-portrait.”
Pittock chose Craig Ruddy’s winning work from 2004, David Gulpilil, two worlds, which caused some consternation with its resemblance to a drawing.