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THE ARCHIBALD and ARTEXPRESS 2009
Review

THE ARCHIBALD and ARTEXPRESS 2009

March 8 2009

The Archibald is not normally an exhibition that lends itself to souvenirs (another boring portrait postcard anyone?), but this year there are t-shirts and mugs for sale. Available in basic white with either a red, green or blue panel carrying the slogan, “All I’ll say is I think a lot of art teachers have got a lot to answer for.” It’s attributed to “Steve Peters – Packing Room”.

I know what he means, but this pearl of wisdom is somewhat misdirected on what is otherwise the only thing worth taking home from the 2009 show. If he’d said “art prizes” or “the gallery trustees” rather than “art teachers”, then yes – absolutely. But this year, while the Archies are upstairs, ArtExpress is downstairs in the Yiribana galleries and ArtExpress is as exciting, interesting, touched by originality, wit, imagination and expertise as the Archibald exhibition is not.

So, if the queues to the big show are daunting – and yes, it’s traditional to queue and the gallery has it all set up nicely for you to do so – get on down to the kids’ show and see something worthwhile instead. By comparison the Archibald show is depressing. In the main the pictures are huge (mandatory nowadays), uninspiring (don’t frighten the punters) and instantly forgettable (so you can paint virtually the same picture next year and nobody will remember).

In the Sydney Morning Herald on Saturday John McDonald wrote: “Alas, it is very difficult to imagine how the show could be radically improved. The current incarnation may be uninspired but it is also successful, so there is no incentive – indeed, a grave danger – in messing around with a formula that seems to be working. One suggestion mooted every year is that the show should be selected by professional curators rather than the gallery’s trustees, but this would almost certainly produce a less popular result.”

He’s probably right, but the once gruesomely kitsch Moran portrait prize has brought in decent judges of late and the tone and standard of the entrants has visibly risen. In 2008 the judges were Doug Hall (Venice Biennale, previously QAG) and Ben Quilty, an artist who’s made the final cut for this year’s Archibald. This year the judges are Melbourne-based artist Darren Sylvester and director of the University of Queensland Art Museum, Nick Mitzevich. The winner is announced on Tuesday. It will be an interesting exercise to compare and contrast.

Another Archibald characteristic is well to the fore this year – what you might call “paint cute” or the “aaaaah” factor – sentimentality. The winner is Guy Maestri's Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu. The Aboriginal singing star's courage and blindness are easily as heart string-twanging for audiences as his voice. The current favourite for People’s Choice is Vincent Fantauzzo’s oversize, super-real Brandon Walters. He is the doe-eyed charmer from Baz Lurhman’s hit epic Australia. (Have you heard, by the way, that this much derided movie has been seen by more Australians in three months than all other Aussie movies put together over the past three years? Pardon me while I enjoy a little “told you so”.)

Happily the packers have not succumbed to “aaaah”. They chose Paul Jackson’s quirky picture of the professionally quirky Paul Livingstone aka Flacco. It has lots of charm and is lacking in syrup. It has a story and plenty to consider, but it really doesn’t leap out of the pack.

THE ARCHIBALD and ARTEXPRESS 2009

The picture that stopped me, from across the room, is Abbey McCulloch’s arresting representation of Nell Schofield. It’s not chocolate box, it’s not strictly figurative and although it’s mainly aqua blue and the face is distorted, it is unmistakably about its subject. This isn’t just a face, this is a person with life and hidden aspects of her personality and vitality captured in a moment. In less gooey times, this would be a winner.

Perennial finalist Jenny Sages is in again this year with a warm and interestingly composed depiction of the Sass and Bide girls, in a picture titled “Heidi and Sarah-Jane – parallel lives”. Sages’ scraped back encaustic is a medium unique to her, in Australia, and is probably too subtle to be popularly acknowledged. In some ways this one echoes David Hockney’s Ossie Clarke and Alice Pollock, and it’s equally telling and lovely.

Mysteries arise, however, in the tooth aching quality of some of the finalists. How the picture of Brendan Cowell got into the show is a puzzle. If a portrait is supposed to give the viewer some essence of the person – either photographically or via character – then this one is a dog. Put it out as a mugshot and the distinctive looking actor could walk by with a name tag on and not be apprehended. A curious mish-mash of styles is evident in Soffrito di Lucio by Garry Shead and Adrienne Levenson. Robert Hannaford and Peter Hanley could have phoned in their entries, so generic and so what are they – even in this company.

So, leave yourself plenty of time to check out ArtExpress. It will restore you, galvanize your imagination and make you hope that at least a few of the artists in the show decide on art as a career. And rather than poo-poo art teachers, give thanks for those who have encouraged and inspired their charges to produce the work in this exhibition. But whatever you do, don’t go to ArtExpress before the Archies or you might slit your wrists. (And, uncharacteristically, the Wynne and Sulman are pretty ordinary too, so there’s little respite there.)

The Archibald Prize 2009 at the Art Gallery of NSW until May 24 then touring regionally until April 2010.

 

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