Above: Abdul Abdullah, Untitled self-portrait, oil and aerosol on linen, 183 x 163 cm © the artist Photo: AGNSW, Jenni Carter Sitter: Abdul Abdullah - artist
If the entries of this year’s Archibald, Wynne and Sulman prize at the Gallery of NSW are anything to go by, one thing that hasn’t waned for Australian artists during the pandemic is creativity. A record number of entries were received for three most prestigious prizes in Australian art, coming to a total of 2,565, beating the previous record of 2,276 in 2012. 2020 also smashed the records across two categories with the Archibald Prize receiving 1,068 entries (previously, 919 in 2019) and the Sulman Prize had 715 admissions (61 more than the number of entries in 2012).
Fifty five artists have been nominated for the Archibald Prize, the most prestigious portrait prize in Australasia of (preferentially) a ‘man or woman distinguished in art, letters, science or politics, painted by any artist resident in Australasia’, dating back to 1921. Some of the famous faces entered this year include Bruce Pascoe, Behrouz Boochani, David Marr, Barry Jones, Maggie Tabberer, Anthony Albanese, Stan Walker and Dujuan Hoosan (the youngest person ever to address the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva and subject of In My Blood it Runs).
Another record was broken with the 2020 Archibald Packing Room Prize (judged by the AGNSW’s unpacking and installation staff) when it was awarded to first-time Archibald Prize entrant, Wongutha-Yamatji artist Meyne Wyatt for his self-portrait Meyne. Wyatt is the first Indigenous artist to win any of the prizes on offer in the Archibald Prize in its almost 100-year history.
“Being a finalist for the Archibald Prize was a pipe dream, let alone being awarded the Packing Room Prize. I am absolutely ecstatic and truly humbled by this wonderful honour,” said the West Australian-born, Sydney-based artist, writer and actor. Wyatt is known for his powerful speech from his play City Of Gold on ABC’s Q&A and his work in The Sapphires, The Turning, Strangerland and tv series Mystery Road, Neighbours, Redfern Now, Black Comedy, and The Leftovers. "I want to thank the Art Gallery of New South Wales, their staff, Brett Cuthbertson and the Packing Room team. Most of all, I want to thank my Mum, who encouraged me to enter the Archibald Prize in the first place and gave me the courage to be so bold. In a way, that is the essence of the painting and what it reflects – to be bold.”
Above: Yuri Shimmyo, Carnation, lily, Yuri, rose, oil on canvas, 27.5 x 23 cm, © the artist, Photo: AGNSW, Mim Stirling, Sitter: Yuri Shimmyo - artist
There are 34 artists nominated for Wynne Prize in 2020, which awards ‘the best landscape painting of Australian scenery in oils or watercolours or for the best example of figure sculpture by Australian artists’ and dates back to 1897, in honour of the official opening of the Gallery of NSW as we know it. And for the Sir John Sulman Prize, awarded to the best subject painting, genre painting or mural project by an Australian artist, dating back to 1936, 18 artists have been nominated.
The Art Gallery of NSW will be exhibiting the works from 26 September 2020 to 10 January 2021. The Archibald Prize 2020 finalists to tour regional Queensland and New South Wales in 2021.
22 January – 7 March 2021: Tweed Regional Gallery & Margaret Olley Art Centre
19 March – 2 May 2021: Cairns Art Gallery
14 May – 27 June 2021: Griffith Regional Art Gallery
9 July – 22 August 2021: Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery
3 September – 17 October 2021: Shoalhaven Regional Gallery
29 October – 5 December 2021: Penrith Regional Gallery
For a full list of nominees visit artgallery.nsw.gov.au and keep scrolling to see all 55 nominated artworks for the Archibald Prize.