Talking with Painters

Here’s your guide to the paintings of the 13 podcast guests whose works were shortlisted in the 2019 Archibald prize. Go to episodes 72 and 73 for the Wynne and Sulman guides!

Click here for an overview of how to use this guide

Click here for images of the Archibald Prize finalists

Click here to see the gallery map below if you are looking at this on your podcast app.

Feature Photo: ‘Lindy Lee’, (detail), oil on canvas, 182.5 x 152cm, Tony Costa, winner of Archibald prize 2019

Click on the artist’s name below to go to their podcast episode and see the video.

The time marking shows where the artist’s work is mentioned in the episode and the number in brackets is the number of the work in the AGNSW.

1:25___ Jude Rae (41)

3:35___ Jonathan Dalton (14)

6:40___Prudence Flint (22)

9:38___Tony Costa (winner) (13)

13:05___Blak Douglas (18)

15:50___Paul Ryan (43)

18:13___Marc Etherington (20)

21.11___Loribelle Spirovski (44)

23:35___Laura Jones (27)

25:10___ Vanessa Stockard (45)

27:54___Natasha Bieniek (5)

29:51___ Natasha Walsh (49)

32:45___Euan Macleod (34)

Here’s your guide to the paintings of the seven podcast guests whose works were shortlisted in the 2019 Wynne prize. Go to episodes 72 and 74 for the Sulman and Archibald guides!

Click the play button underneath the photo to hear the podcast episode and scroll down for video of the Wynne winner Sylvia Ken.

Click here for an overview of how to use this guide

Click here for images of the paintings in the Wynne prize

Click here to see the Gallery Map if you are looking at this on your podcast app.

Click on the artist’s name below to go to their podcast episode and see the video

The time marking shows where the artist’s work is mentioned on the podcast and the number following the name is the number of the work in the AGNSW.

0:55___Marc Etherington (61)

3:08___Ken Done (63)

4:34___ Blak Douglas and Elaine Russell (62)

7:38____Natasha Bieniek (54)

10:06___Abdul Abdullah (52)

11:56___Michaye Boulter (55)

13:39___Sylvia Ken (winner) (65)

Here’s your guide to the paintings of the six podcast guests whose works were shortlisted in the 2019 Sir John Sulman prize. Go to episodes 73 and 74 for the Wynne and Archibald guides!

Click here for an overview of how to use this guide

Click here to see the Sir John Sulman finalist paintings.

Feature photo: ‘The first girl that knocked on his door’ (detail) oil on canvas, 153 x 122.5cm, McLean Edwards, winner of the Sir John Sulman prize, 2019.

Click on the artist’s name below to hear their podcast interview and see the podcast video.

The time marking shows where the artist’s work is mentioned on the podcast and the number following the name is the number of the work in the AGNSW.

1:12___John Bokor (84)

3:37___Paul Ryan (104)

6:10___Ken Done (87)

8:00___McLean Edwards (winner) (88)

10:38__Alan Jones (91)

13:19__Abdul Abdullah (81)

This year twenty podcast guests were selected as finalists in the Archibald, Wynne, and Sulman prizes, which are exhibited every year at the Art Gallery of NSW, with a total of 26 paintings between them. In the next three episodes I’m going to talk to you about those works. Scroll down to see some tips on how to listen to these episodes.

How to use episodes 72-74:

The guides

The Archibald guide is here

The Wynne guide is here

The Sulman guide is here

Gallery Map

Map of location of podcast guest paintings at the AGNSW.

(Click here if you are looking at this on your podcast app)

Episode 72: SULMAN FINALISTS

1:12 ___John Bokor(84)

3:37____Paul Ryan(104)

6:10___ Ken Done (87)

8:00____McLean Edwards (88)

10:38___Alan Jones (91)

13:19___Abdul Abdullah (81)

Episode 73: WYNNE FINALISTS

00:55___Marc Etherington (63)

3:08___ Ken Done (61)

4:34____Blak Douglas (62)

7:38____Natasha Bieniek (54)

10:06___Abdul Abdullah (52)

11:56___Michaye Boulter(55)

13:39___Sylvia Ken(65)

Episode 74: ARCHIBALD FINALISTS

1:25____Jude Rae (41)

3:35____Jonathan Dalton (14)

6:40____Prudence Flint (22)

9:38____Tony Costa (13)

13:05___Blak Douglas (18)

15:50___Paul Ryan (43)

18:13___Marc Etherington (20)

21:11___Loribelle Spirovski (44)

23:35___Laura Jones (27)

25:10___Vanessa Stockard (45)

27:54___Natasha Bieniek (5)

29:51___Natasha Walsh (49)

32:45___Euan Macleod (34)

He’s been painting for over 50 years, and in addition to the Archibald has won several other awards including the Paddington Art Prize for landscape painting and has been shortlisted in others including another three times in the Archibald, in the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize, the Wynne Prize, the Sulman Prize, the Kilgour Prize, and the list goes on.

Costa paints in an expressionist style. His whole practice is about trapping energy and a large part of his method is guided by an eastern philosophy – seeking to enter into the world of nothingness and distancing himself from any thought process. This process is applied whether it’s a landscape or a portrait.

His methods are neither traditional nor predictable and I found our conversation incredibly interesting and eye opening with a good dose of humour thrown in.

This podcast interview was recorded in Tony’s beautiful studio in Sydney. To hear it, press play beneath the above feature photo.

I first met Tony at the Art Gallery of NSW shortly after his win was announced. You can see my 5 minute interview with him on that day here.

Scroll down for a short video of Tony Costa talking with Maria Stoljar in his studio.

Current shows

Show Notes

His powerful work depicts the harsh and dangerous environments in our world, where the sea smashes against jagged rocks and freezing glaciers slide past uninhabitable snowy peaks. 

It’s the physicality and energy of these places that he’s aiming to convey and he does so spectacularly.

He combines an impasto technique with layering and glazing to produce a complex visual experience and his compositions often involve intriguing negative spaces which contribute to the drama and mystery of his work.

He has exhibited in dozens of solo shows in Australia and New Zealand and his latest solo show, Liquid Light, opens at Martin Browne Contemporary in Sydney on 30 May 2019.

Although he grew up in New Zealand, he has spent half his life in Australia where he completed his Masters degree after previous postgraduate study in New York.

In this episode you’ll hear about how and why his work moved from abstraction to figuration and why he doesn’t believe there is a significant difference between the two, why he’s drawn to his subject matter and plenty about his technique and process.

To hear the podcast episode click ‘play’ under the feature photo above.

Scroll down to see a short video of Frazer talking with Maria Stoljar in his studio.

Upcoming shows

Show Notes

At the time of writing, his work hangs in the Art Gallery of NSW in both the Archibald and Wynne prizes which are arguably the most famous portrait and landscape awards in Australia.

His paintings always have something to say about social justice, often with irony and humour playing an important part and with his Aboriginal identity central to his work. 

He’s won several awards and has been finalist in many others including three times in the Archibald prize and his work is held in various public collections including the National Gallery of Australia.

His grandmother, Clorine Morthem,  was one of the stolen generation, taken at 13 years of age and institutionalised in Cootamundra Girls home, something that has had repercussions down the generations. 

His father’s ancestors are the Dunghutti people from northern NSW and his mother was from an Irish Australian background. Although his name given at birth is Adam Hill, he took on the name Blak Douglas in recent years to reflect those two sides of his ancestry.

I spoke with him in his Redfern studio which he shares with other artists and this conversation starts at an earlier time, when his parents first met.

Press play under the feature photo above to hear the podcast episode.

Scroll down to see a short video of Douglas in his studio.

Current events

Show notes

Her work is hotly sought after internationally and, in Australia, she is probably best known for the rare achievement of having won the Archibald prize twice – no mean feat in a race where women have only won the award 12 times in close to 100 years.

Her paintings are instantly recognizable. Figures with drawn hands and faces look out of the picture with mesmerising eyes, existing in an imaginary world. That world is filled with colour and exquisite detail.

Barton has exhibited in over 20 solo shows including a 4-month major survey of her work at the National Gallery of Victoria last year and her work is held in many public institutions and private collections.

However,  painting forms only part of her life’s work and, although we also talked about her film-making, we didn’t touch on her photo montages, sculptures and installations and her current New York show ‘sing blood-wings sing’  which includes a 10m long work in 5 panels of the same name.

We met in one of her Sydney studios where I was lucky enough to see 10 or so works in mid-completion for her upcoming October show at Roslyn Oxley 9 in Sydney.

She is warm and honest and openly speaks about dark times. However, as with her work, she seems to find a balance between the light and dark and laughter is always closeby.

To hear our conversation press ‘play’ beneath the above feature photo.

‘Self-portrait with studio wife’, 2018, acrylic on linen, 203 x 183cm (finalist Arhibald Prize 2018)

‘the preservation of the shimmer self’, 2018- 2019, 240 x 200cm

‘come of things’, 2010, synthetic polymer paint, gouache, watercolour and pen on polyester canvas , 240 x 360cm (permanent collection, Art Gallery of NSW)

‘you are what is most beautiful about me, a self portrait with Kell and Arella’ 2008, synthetic polymer paint, watercolour, gouache and pen on polyester canvas, 280 x 180cm (winner Archibald Prize 2008)

‘hugo’, 2013, watercolour, gouache and acrylic on canvas, 200 x 180cm (winner Archibald Prize 2013)

‘Mother (a portrait of Cate)’, 2011, watercolour, gouache, acrylic and pen on polyester canvas, 240 x 180cm (finalist Archibald Prize 2011)

‘wilder grew her song’ 2011-2012 acrylic gouache watercolour and ink on polyester canvas

‘Weird Seed’ 2017, acrylic on french linen, 180 x 160cm

She plays with colour and perspective to convey her subjects not quite the way they exist in reality but with an ever present optimism and empathy mixed with a bit of kookiness.

She has a Masters degree in drawing from the National Art School and this forms the foundations of her painting. Last year she won the Muswellbrook Art prize for works on paper and she’s also been a finalist and semi-finalist in many major painting prizes including the Sulman, Doug Moran, Black Swan and Paddington art prizes. She has exhibited in five solo shows and has another two coming up this year but still sees herself in the early stages of her career as a painter. Her work crosses still life, portraiture and landscape.

I recorded this episode in Kiata’s studio in the back room of her home in Lake Cathie just south of Port Macquarie in NSW’s mid north coast. She lives at times a rather isolated life but this is not only due to the geography of where she lives.  As the full-time carer of her grandmother suffering from Alzheimer’s, a cup of tea with a friend is a rare event and even a trip to the shops is a major operation.

Kiata grew up in various parts of NSW including Sydney, Newcastle, Port Macquarie and Armidale. She was surrounded by strong women particularly her mother and grandmother who had a background in theatre and were always interested in the arts.

To hear the episode press play under the feature photo above.

I filmed a short video of Kiata in her studio and you can see it below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwZ3OJquz8E

‘The artist’s table’, 2018, acrylic on canvas, 94.5 x 126cm (finalist Sir John Sulman Prize 2018)

‘Gathering what we have’, 2018, acrylic on canvas, 94 x 94cm

‘Grandmother Bea’, 2017, arcylic on canvas (semi-finalist Doug Moran National Portrait Prize 2017)

‘Patchwork rocks’, 2018, acrylic on canvas, (finalist Paddington Art Prize 2018)

‘Rainy Day in the Studio’, 2018, acrylic on canvas, 156 x 126cm

‘The whole world in a room’, 2018, acrylic on canvas, 125 x 156cm

Harding’s oil paintings are created with a glorious impasto technique, he uses gouache to capture the lifesize portraits of many a famous sitter and he is renowned for his magnificent ink drawings.

He has had over 30 (often sell-out) solo shows, major survey shows of his work have been held at the S H Ervin Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery and his work is in the collections of many public institutions including the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the National Gallery of Australia, the National Portrait Gallery, and in private and corporate collections around the world.

One of the major impacts on his work was coming to Australia after spending the first 8 years of his life in England and, in particular, his observation of the different light and how its glare created contrasts which were so different to the muted tones of England.  It was his time in the bush and the beaches as a child which caused him later to move further from the English influence to make Australia the subject of his work.

In this episode we talk about his influences, painting from memory, the strengths and weaknesses of using photographic references, failing in order to succeed, making art during the dark times and much more. To hear the episode press ‘play’ under the feature photo above or listen however you get your podcasts.

See short video of Harding in his studio below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWezJHrg9P4&t=7s

‘Treatment, day 49, (sorbolene soak)’, 2018, (finalist Archibald prize 2018)

‘John Bell as King Lear’, 2001, oil on canvas on board, 177 x 105cm (winner Archibald Prize 2001)

‘Robert Drewe (in the swell)’ 2006, oil on linen, 138 x 123cm  (finalist Archibald Prize 2006)

‘Anna Volska and Georgia’, 2015, gouache and watercolour on paper, 168 x 76cm

‘John Olsen, AO, OBE’, 2017, oil on linen, 198 x 138cm (finalist, Archibald prize, 2017)

‘Estuary figures (swim-ring, towel and hat) 2013, oil on Belgian linen, 112 x 107cm

‘Lagoon (canoe)’ 2011 – 2012, oil on Belgian linen, 138 x 138cm

‘Wilpena wattle’, 2016, oil on linen, 172.5 x 172.5 cm (finalist Wynne prize 2016)

‘Wilpena eucalypt and wattle’, 2017, oil on linen, 183 x 245cm (finalist Wynne prize 2017)

‘Eddy Avenue 3’ , 2001, ink on paper, 132 x 149cm.  (Winner Dobell Prize for Drawing, collection of the Art Gallery of NSW)

‘Bunjalung Pandanus 2018’ ink on paper, in the studio (Instagram @nicholas0harding)

Drawings, paintings and etchings from theatre rehearsals and performances (Instagram @nicholas0harding)

Ink drawings created during period of chemotherapy treatment (instagram @nicholas0harding)