Three major prize exhibitions worth visiting the National Portrait Gallery for
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If you need an art fix or to broaden your mind about the human experience, there is no better place to go than the National Portrait Gallery which is currently gearing up for a feast of stellar prize exhibitions opening this weekend.
The much-anticipated National Photographic Portrait Prize is now in its 17th year and provides a powerful visual record of the year that was, reflecting a particular time in Australian culture, both socially and artistically. Open to both established and emerging artistic talent, the prize is an opportunity for artists to have their work shown in a national gallery alongside their peers.
The Darling Portrait Prize is a prestigious biennial prize for portrait painting, established to honour the legacy of National Portrait Gallery founding patron L Gordon Darling AC CMG, offers a platform for artists to explore the evolving notion of Australian identity.
Fragility, 2024, by Naomi Hobson
And in exciting news, winners of both prizes have been announced on Friday evening with the winner of the National Photographic Portrait Prize receiving a cash prize of $30,000 and $20,000 worth of Canon equipment. The winner of the Darling Portrait Prize will receive a cash prize of $75,000.
Meanwhile, the Little Darlings Youth Portrait Prize is an exhibition of 12 finalists works from the Gallery’s annual Youth Prize, providing a platform for primary and secondary students to be represented on the walls of a national institution.
According to Dr Emma Kindred, Curator, National Portrait Gallery, there were almost 1,000 entries for the Darling Portrait Prize and nearly 2,000 for the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2024.
A Painting for My 13 Year Old Self, 2023 by Ting Jiang
“The 58 finalists selected by our judges across both the Darling Portrait Prize and National Photographic Portrait Prize affirm the myriad ways in which portraits can tell stories, challenge stereotypes, interrogate identity and expand the ways we think about each other, ourselves and the world we live in.
“Artists across both prizes continue to push the boundaries of how we represent ourselves and others, and what a portrait can be – and this might be in the way an artist works with colour and composition, or how they approach their subject with quiet sensitivity or bold dynamism.”
So, what can’t you miss?
Lit entirely by moonlight, artist and filmmaker Amos Gebhardt’s National Photographic Portrait Prize winning portrait captures acclaimed Waanyi author Alexis Wright peering towards the night sky. With a practice focused on challenging dominate narratives around marginality and representation, they have also been awarded the William and Winifred Bowness Photography Prize in 2022 and was also a finalist in the 2022 National Photographic Portrait Prize.
With the judges stating that they were taken by the powerful relationship between the moon, the subject and the camera, you need to see it for yourself.
As for the Darling Portrait Prize? Sydney based artist Noel McKenna (who is known for his spare linear style and painting of everyday scenarios often depicting the relationship between humans and animals) was named the winner for this work William Nuttall with horses in field, 2023. Described as “joyous”, “energetic” and “unexpected”, the judges said it “demonstrates the skill of an established Australian artist”.
But that’s just the beginning of what you can see.
Emma said visitors may be surprised by the breadth of artistic styles in this year’s exhibition. In the Darling Prize, artists worked in oil and acrylic, watercolour and tempura, wax, aerosol and even lipstick. In the National Photographic Portrait Prize, finalists deftly mixed up digital and analogue technologies – with artists working with nineteenth-century techniques such as the tintype and cyanotype, and even a portrait made by moonlight. This hybridity reflects the range and fluidity of contemporary practice, alongside each artist’s own method and intention.
Habitat of monstera II (Self-portrait with yellow paisley jacket), 2023 (full) by Bahman Kermany
In terms of stories in the Darling Portrait Prize, finalists painted allies, mentors and fellow creatives who have been a source of friendship, inspiration and support. In self-portraits (which make up one third of the Darling Portrait Prize entrants) artists invite us into their interior space, offering a glimpse of how they see themselves and their place in the world.
Emma believed the gallery’s prize program was “an important platform for emerging artists, and a way for all artists – emerging and established – to share contemporary stories and receive recognition for their work. Across the entries we see the span of portraiture in Australia today, and prizes present such an incredible opportunity to artist to extend themselves and their practice.”
Stripe Search, 2023 by Jo Duck
She also noted that in 2024, the Portrait Gallery made significant changes to the prizes to remove all financial barriers to entry, centring the artist and ensuring the prizes are accessible and equitable for all. Entry to the prizes was free and all finalists received an artists’ fee, copyright fee, freight allowance and travel allowance.
The National Portrait Gallery, meanwhile, is preparing to welcome visitors for this exciting winter period, encouraging everyone, young and old, to experience the magic of portraiture. To make things easy, you can purchase one ticket for both exhibitions, and the kids (under 18) get in for free.
THE ESSENTIALS
What: The National Portrait Gallery’s National Photographic Portrait Prize and Darling Prize exhibition.
When: From Saturday 22 June until 13 October.
Where: National Portrait Gallery, Parkes
Web: One ticket grants access to both exhibitions (and kids are free). Go to portrait.gov.au On opening day, join finalists in the gallery for a series of free artist floor talks from 10.30am – 12pm on 22 June.
Images supplied.
