Saturday, March 08, 2008
Archibald Prize Winner 2008 - Del Kathryn Barton
The Sydney artist Del Kathryn Barton has won the Archibald prize for portraiture in 2008. Her painting titled "You are what is most beautiful about me, a self portrait with Kell and Arella" has won her $50,000 and a whole bunch of media attention as the art prize is one of the few in Australia that get any mainstream media love.
Her winning portrait depicts herself and her two children, Kell and Arella. The artist said "This painting celebrates the love I have for my two children and how my relationship with them has radically informed and indeed transformed my understanding of who I am." She also said "Both my children have taken my world by storm and very little compares to the devotion I feel for them both. The intensity of this emotion is not something that I could have prepared myself for. The alchemy of life offered forth from my inhabitable woman's body is perhaps the greatest gift of my life."
It's an interesting choice, and most of the media seem relatively happy with the winner for 2008, but I don't think it should have won. Del Kathryn Barton has been Hot lately, with a waiting list of collectors lining up to get a piece of her and auction records of her work being broken again and again (with paintings being sold for $150,000+), but I can't see what all the fuss is about. I think she's a good artist, but she doesn't seem to have broken free from the spells of Egon Schiele and Gustav Klimt. Del Kathryn Barton is currently showing at the Karen Woodbury Gallery in Richmond, Victoria.
Also at the Art Gallery of NSW, Joanne Currie Nalingu's painting called "The River Is Calm" won the Wynne Prize, which is for landscape painting or sculptures of the figure. While the artist Rodney Pople won the Sulman Prize for "Stage Fright".
Here's a list of the finalists for the Archibald prize in 2008. My two picks for the top prize would be Jun Chen's "Ian Smith" and Zhong Chen's "Nicholas Harding" portraits.
Coxsoft art also mentioned a portrait of the late Aussie actor Heath Ledger by the artist Vincent Fantauzzo. It was a close second to take out the Archibald prize, with judges divided between the Heath Ledger portrait and the Barton self portrait.
>> Archibald Prize News ¶ 5:10 AM
The Sydney artist Del Kathryn Barton has won the Archibald prize for portraiture in 2008. Her painting titled "You are what is most beautiful about me, a self portrait with Kell and Arella" has won her $50,000 and a whole bunch of media attention as the art prize is one of the few in Australia that get any mainstream media love.Her winning portrait depicts herself and her two children, Kell and Arella. The artist said "This painting celebrates the love I have for my two children and how my relationship with them has radically informed and indeed transformed my understanding of who I am." She also said "Both my children have taken my world by storm and very little compares to the devotion I feel for them both. The intensity of this emotion is not something that I could have prepared myself for. The alchemy of life offered forth from my inhabitable woman's body is perhaps the greatest gift of my life."
It's an interesting choice, and most of the media seem relatively happy with the winner for 2008, but I don't think it should have won. Del Kathryn Barton has been Hot lately, with a waiting list of collectors lining up to get a piece of her and auction records of her work being broken again and again (with paintings being sold for $150,000+), but I can't see what all the fuss is about. I think she's a good artist, but she doesn't seem to have broken free from the spells of Egon Schiele and Gustav Klimt. Del Kathryn Barton is currently showing at the Karen Woodbury Gallery in Richmond, Victoria.
Also at the Art Gallery of NSW, Joanne Currie Nalingu's painting called "The River Is Calm" won the Wynne Prize, which is for landscape painting or sculptures of the figure. While the artist Rodney Pople won the Sulman Prize for "Stage Fright".
Here's a list of the finalists for the Archibald prize in 2008. My two picks for the top prize would be Jun Chen's "Ian Smith" and Zhong Chen's "Nicholas Harding" portraits.
Coxsoft art also mentioned a portrait of the late Aussie actor Heath Ledger by the artist Vincent Fantauzzo. It was a close second to take out the Archibald prize, with judges divided between the Heath Ledger portrait and the Barton self portrait.
>> Archibald Prize News ¶ 5:10 AM
What a mixture! With the UK Turner Prize, you expect rubbish and that's what you get. With our big Portraiture Award, you expect quality and that's what you get. But this Aussie award really attracts the good, the bad and the ugly. I see you like ugly, but we agree that the winner didn't deserve the prize. I guess the judges went for her pretentious waffle: never mind the quality, read the blurb. My favourite is Zai Kuang's The sisters: Celia and Julia: simple, elegant and beautiful with tightly controlled use of colour. A gem.
Can you please explain your choice of Chen's pictures? They do not look very original for me.
What I like about the winner is the Indian motive, which brings power into the picture.
What I like about the winner is the Indian motive, which brings power into the picture.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder Ian ;-)
I liked Zai Kuang's portrait also. There's a few paintings that I would happily hang on my wall amongst them.
Dovile, I chose the Chen paintings as I like works that look like paintings. I want to see paint piled on, dripping off, and brushmarks that are not hidden.
I would probably like Del Kathryn Barton's portrait more if I didn't like Egon Schiele as much as I do.
Dion
I liked Zai Kuang's portrait also. There's a few paintings that I would happily hang on my wall amongst them.
Dovile, I chose the Chen paintings as I like works that look like paintings. I want to see paint piled on, dripping off, and brushmarks that are not hidden.
I would probably like Del Kathryn Barton's portrait more if I didn't like Egon Schiele as much as I do.
Dion
I totally disagree with you guys. I think Del Kathryn Barton deserved to win. Imagine how much time, effort and emotion she must have put into her painting!I'm only 14 and I'm not an art expert or anything, but isn't the blurb kind of important? I think her 'pretentious waffle' tells the meaning behind the artwork and the meaning is a big part of the art when you're making it. Like it means a lot to the person who did it. And it really stood out from the other pictures and I love how she did the eyes. The eyes on the kids are so deep and detailed. But yeah I liked Zai Kuangs picture too... It's just so clean and pure and real. It's pretty.
# posted by 
: 10:34 PM
: 10:34 PM
Each to their own.
Anyhow,
Can someone tell me the dimensions of the winning painting by Del Kathryn Barton.
Thanks,
Anna
Post a Comment
Anyhow,
Can someone tell me the dimensions of the winning painting by Del Kathryn Barton.
Thanks,
Anna
See our comments policy Comment spam will be deleted
<< Art News Home
