Art fans will enjoy the weekend in Cairns with the Archibald Prize exhibition commencing this weekend, as well as local artists featuring in the Call of the Running Tide Exhibition at Northsite Contemporary Gallery.
Prestigious and controversial, The Archibald Prize is Australiaโs oldest and most respected award for portraiture, and it arrives in Cairns tomorrow.
Each year the Trustees of the Art Gallery of New South Wales choose a winner from a selection of shortlisted artists and competition is fierce. The winning artist receives $100,000, making it the most highly valued art prize in Australia.
The Prize is awarded annually to the best portrait โpreferentially of some man or woman distinguished in art, letters, science or politics, painted by any artist resident in Australasiaโ. To be eligible, portraits must have been painted in the previous year from at least one live sitting with the artist.
Exhibition starts tomorrow 20 March and is open through to 2 May 2021. Reservations essential.
โAngela is holding a photograph of herself in classic model pose, a direct reference to that idea. I sought out the โpeacockโ chair as a further nod to how we present ourselves to the world, as it served as a quasi-throne. I painted the portrait at the height of the bushfires, referenced by the spilt water, fallen flowers and vase. The studio was often filled with smoke.โ
Dalton was born in Dublin in 1977 and moved to Australia from Spain in 2013. This is his fourth consecutive year as an Archibald Prize finalist. Image Credit / Art Gallery of NSW
โIโve depicted Boochani directly engaging the viewer as a strong, confident and peaceful man who survived a brutal ordeal and is now free. Boochani doesnโt view himself as a victim. Through his work he tirelessly struggled for years against the system that tried to humiliate him. In my view, it was he who humiliated them.โ The New Zealand government granted Boochani refugee status in July 2020, permitting him to live there indefinitely.
Born in Sydney in 1961, McDonald has studied at the Julian Ashton Art School in Sydney and the Florence Academy in Italy. This is his sixth time as an Archibald Prize finalist. His award-winning short filmย Manus
ย was released in 2019. Image Credit / Art Gallery of NSW
Aussie Rules kicks off from 5pm at the Croc Pit with a practice game against the Centrals, while the Mossman Sharks are playing
the Norths Devils at Coronation Park in Mossman tomorrow in rugby league. Game times are 3:30pm for the Reserve Grade and 5:00pm for A Grade.
Whether you head off to the markets, watch or play some sport, or help clean up our local beaches this weekend, enjoy it!
Did we miss anything? Let us know! Our calendar event listings are FREE!
Weekend Weather Forecast
A slow moving high [1038 hPa] in the Tasman Sea extends a ridge along the east coast.
Forecast for Friday 19 March until midnight
Winds / East to southeasterly 10 to 15 knots in the evening, tending more northeasterly inshore.
Seas / Below 1 metre
Swell / East to southeasterly below 1 metre
Weather / Partly cloudy
Saturday 20 March
Winds / East to southeasterly 10 to 15 knot
Seas / Around 1 metre
Swell / East to southeasterly below 1 metre
Weather / Partly cloudy
Sunday 21 March
Winds / Southeasterly 10 to 15 knots decreasing to about 10 knots early in the morning then becoming east to northeasterly in the late afternoon
Seas / Below 1 metre
Swell / Southeasterly around 1 metre outside the reef
Weather / Partly cloudy
