Julia Gutman has been awarded the 2023 Archibald Prize. The portrait competition delivers a $100,000 paycheck as well as international fame.
The subject of Gutman’s portrait was her former housemate Jessica Cerro, who is best known by her stage name Montaigne.
Gitman’s portrait of the Eurovision singer is titled Head in the sky, feet on the ground and is a combination of oils and fabric. Part of the image is also see-through exposing the frame behind the painting. The paintings title is taken from a Talking Heads song This Must Be the Place (Native Melody)
“My practice is broadly concerned with community and intimacy, so I wanted to work with someone I know well,” said Gutman, who is a first-time Archibald finalist.
“Jess and I have been friends for a few years and there is a lot of alignment in our practices; we are both interested in creating our own forms and approaches rather than strictly adhering to any one tradition. Montaigne’s work defies genres, while her mercurial soprano has become an indelible part of the fabric of Australian music.”
Gutman, who is 29 years-old, is the eleventh women to win the prize in its 102-year history. Nora Heysen was the first woman to win the prize back in 1938, she remained the competition’s youngest winner being aged just 27 at the time.
While the Archibald is Australia’s most famous art prize, it is part of a trio of prizes alongside the Wynne Prize – awarded to landscape work, and the Silman prize which is given to genre, subject painting or murals.
This year the Wynne Prize was awarded to Zaachariaha Fielding, who is best known as one half of electronic music duo Electric Fields. His painting depicts music and movement on Country in Mimili, a small community in South Australia.
Doris Bush Nungarrayi was awarded the Sulman Prize for her work that depicts several Mamus, ominous spirits which are recognised by the Anangu people.
OIP Staff
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