Artwork: Angela Brennan, Portrait of Erik Jensen, 2023, Oil on linen, 185.2 x 151.2 cm
Artwork: David Fenoglio, Christopher Bassi, 2023, Oil on linen, 76.5 x 66 cm.jpeg
Angela Brennan and David Fenoglio have been selected as a finalist for the 2023 Archibald Prize.
Congratulations to Angela Brennan and David Fenoglio for being selected for the 2023 Archibald Prize.
The Archibald is one of the most important and prestigious prizes in Australian art. Hosted by the Art Gallery of New South Wales since 1921, the annual exhibition presents the best portraits, 'preferentially of some man or woman distinguished in art, letters, science or politics, painted by any artist resident in Australasia’, with finalists selected by the trustees of the Art Gallery of NSW.
Angela Brennan’s Portrait of Erik Jensen, in the Brennan’s signature colourful abstraction, depicts the artists friend, an award-winning biographer, journalist, screenwriter and poet. Jensen is the founding editor of The Saturday Paper and editor-in-chief of Schwartz Media. His books include Acute misfortune: the life and death of Adam Cullen. On the process of creating the portrait, Brennan says:
‘I met Erik several years ago and we clicked immediately. I love talking to him about art history, certain artists, poetry, writing and the different ways we see and experience the world. He came to my studio in Brunswick East for a long sitting. After settling on the pose, I made preliminary drawings and began painting him, getting the whole figure onto the canvas. From there, I was able to develop the painting, working on it over several weeks, and referencing my studio setting. I delight in Erik’s vitality, which I hope I’ve conveyed in the portrait. For me, he embodies a particular essence that demands to be painted!’
This is Brennan’s first Archibald Prize exhibition.
David Fenoglio’s portrait of fellow artist Christopher Bassi captures the pairs appreciation for baroque painting.
‘I took [Dutch painter] Carel Fabritius’ Young man in a fur cap [1654] as a starting point. I visited Chris’s studio to hang out and paint the first study for the portrait. Initially, I wanted to include some of his paintings in the background; however, they have become obscured by the sky and clouds, which I like to think of as a storm of creative ideas emanating from Chris.’
Bassi is an artist of Meriam, Yupungathi and British descent, whose paintings address issues surrounding history, cultural identity and colonial legacies within Australia and the southern Great Ocean. He and David Fenoglio are both based in Brisbane, but they first met in Sydney at the opening of the 2022 Archibald Prize, in which Fenoglio was also a finalist.
‘I feel an affinity with him as we both appreciate aspects of historic painting and employ them in our practice. It was a challenge and an honour to paint another artist, particularly one who often paints self-portraits.’
The Archibald Prize will be on exhibition at the Art Gallery of New South Wales from 6 May – 3 September 2023, before embarking on a national tour.