Enjoy exclusive online viewings of the Archibald Prize at Shoalhaven Regional Gallery
While the gallery is closed due to COVID, the 2020 Archibald Prize exhibition will appear in several online events on the Shoalhaven Regional Gallery’s Facebook page. Photo: Shoalhaven Regional Gallery
While it’s currently impossible to see it in-person, the Archibald Prize 2020 touring show will present some exclusive online events thanks to the creative team at Shoalhaven Regional Gallery. It’s the first time in five years that the famous portrait competitions has visited the gallery, which is closed in the current lockdown and stay-at-home orders.
This Friday at 1pm there will be a Facebook Live walk-through of the show, which presents 52 portraits including the winner by Vincent Namatjira, who painted football star Adam Goodes. This portrait is the first by an indigenous artist to win the prize in its history, and it also features the artist himself next to Goodes and shaking hands.
Namatjira said of his subject, on the official Art Gallery of NSW website, “We share some similar stories and experiences – of disconnection from culture, language and Country, and the constant pressures of being an Aboriginal man in this country. We’ve also both got young daughters and don’t want them to have to go through those same experiences.”
The painting, an acrylic on linen, is evocatively titled “Stand Strong for who you are”.
The gallery has hinted at more online walk-throughs and talks about the works in the show, to be posted on the Facebook page. The 2020 Prize contains 55 selected portraits from over 1000 entries – which was a record high.
In a special local twist, a Young Archies competition is on show alongside the main event, presenting 30 portraits by artists aged 5 to 18. A Young Archie writing competition is also now underway, with young writers aged 9-18 invited to submit an entry before the closing date on 16 October. This competition is jointly run with South Coast Writers Centre and Shoalhaven Libraries.
The Archibald Prize Touring Exhibition is scheduled to run in the gallery until 16 October, so there is still a possibility it will open to the public. Stay tuned to the gallery’s Facebook page for updates.
