Today

I went to Booragul to see The Archibald Prize exhibition on it's last day here. I had meant to go and see it sooner, but alas I am lazy and boring. (Almost) Everything was absolutely outstanding.. Here are a few of my faves =)

James Powditch- "Aden Young in 'Once Upon A Time in the Inner West'"

James Cochran- "Akira"

Robert Hannaford- "Alison Mitchell"

Eolo Bottaro- "The Archibald"

Phillip Barnes- "Black: White: Red All Over"

Nick Stathopoulos- "At The Movies with David Stratton aka The Big Sleep"

John Phillips- "Wendy After two Cups of Coffee"

Ben Quilty- "Self Portrait After Madrid" (which is absolutely breath taking up close btw)

Of course then there was the winner..

Del Kathryn Barton- "You Are What Is Most Beautiful About Me, A Self Portrait With Kell And Arella" (her son and daughter)

And of course the characteristicly dark and thought provoking People's Choice Award.

Vincent Fantauzzo- "Heath"

This is an oil painting, and is fairly large. Seeing it up close is mind blowing, knowing that this is not a public portrayal, but one of his close friends seeing into the core of his darkness. This portrait makes you forget all the media allogations, the downpour of remarks thrown in the air about substance abuse and junkie appetites not all that different from his role in the movie Candy. (Which I love him in haha) It shows that his struggle was so much deeper than this, and the fact that he was so eager to start this painting was a good indicator of his state of mind-He recognised that here, it was now or never. While I walked away, feeling confused and very set that I could never relate to this mind set, Fantauzzo has captured Ledger so intricately (and it shows that he knew him well) that you cannot help but feel closer to the star because of the love the artist has put into this work. Absolutely this painting recieves 5 stars for me, the composition is flawless, the theme and timing were spot on and the dedication is remarkable.


Description taken from The Archibald Prize exhibition:

Vincent Fantauzzo painted his portrait of Australian actor Heath Ledger in December just weeks before Ledger died in New York in January.

Born in Perth in 1979, Ledger’s many film credits include Brokeback Mountain, for which he scored an Academy Award nomination, I’m Not There and Candy. He will be seen this year as The Joker in the new Batman movie The Dark Knight.

Fantauzzo and Ledger were friends for around five years. “We had been planning to do a portrait for the last three years,” says the artist, “but the time was never right. Then late last year he gave me a call and said he was ready to do it and was really excited.”

They met at Ledger’s mother's home in Perth and had a long discussion about ideas for the painting. “I wanted it to be dealing with self, your own consciousness and your thoughts,” says Fantauzzo. “An artist is their own biggest critic. I had seen his eyes wander off or stare into the camera while doing interviews and wondered what he may have been thinking. I felt that being a celebrity, you are always under constant scrutiny with so many demands made of you that you have to hold part of yourself back and not give too much away.”

The artist and Ledger had a couple of lengthy sittings. Ledger was relaxed and happy and they talked about his career. “After the sittings I felt so inspired,” says Fantauzzo, who flew home to Melbourne to finish the portrait. “I worked on it solidly for 10 or 12 hours a day. I’ve never worked so intensely or painted so obsessively. I was consumed by it.”

Born in England in 1977, Fantauzzo came to Australia as a child and has a Bachelor of Fine Art (Painting) and a Master of Fine Art from RMIT University, Melbourne. He has had solo exhibitions at Dianne Tanzer Gallery in Melbourne in 2007 and 2008 and in Mumbai India in 2007. He won the 2003 Tolarno RMIT Partnership Prize and was a finalist in the 2007 Shirley Hannan Portrait Prize, DLAP, Whyalla Art Award and Duke Gold Coast Art Prize.

The Ledger family, in particular Sally, Heath Ledger’s mother, and Vincent Fantauzzo have jointly decided to donate this painting to the Art Gallery of New South Wales.