Gareth Liddiard For The Archibald?
News posted Friday, April 8 2011 at 03:00 PM.
Related: The Drones, Gareth Liddiard.
A portrait of Drones frontman Gareth Liddiard has been announced today as one of the finalists of this year’s Archibald art prize.
It’s not all Henry bloody Lawson by Sydney-based artist Jason Benjamin is one of 41 portraits vying for the prestigious $50,000 prize. In a quick e-chat with M+N today, Benjamin said he’s been meaning to paint Liddiard for quite some time, but finally arranged a sitting with the singer after the release of his solo, Australian Music Prize-nominated debut Strange Tourist last year.
“I’ve been a fan of Gareth's for ages (who hasn't?). I’m a mate of The Drones manager Bill Cullen and had been trying to set something up for around three years. It was becoming a bit of a seasonal thing, in that reassuring and disconcerting sort of way where I'd phone Bill [and say], ‘Summer's on the way again, where's Gareth?’
“I'm glad it took a while,” he continued, “because over this time Gareth put out his fantastic solo album [Strange Tourist], which I played over and over on my way down to his spot in Havilah, Victoria. We shot the shit for a few hours and that is where anything I ever do comes from, conversation/distillation.
“I was telling Gareth about the title and how that dictated a certain feel or direction. I brought up the terrific track ‘Highplains Mailman’ as that ‘Monaro country in southern NSW on your way to the Snowies’, which is where 90 percent of my work from the last couple of years is from. His threading a narrative within and inseparable from the landscape as a song is unparalleled anywhere.”
Benjamin – a Melbourne-born artist whose works have been exhibited in Canberra’s Australian National Gallery and Melbourne’s The National Gallery of Victoria – said the title of the piece is adapted from a line in the 2009 Australian film Lucky Country.
“[It] just stuck to me on a really visceral level. As a fan unashamedly of [Australian poet Henry] Lawson I wanted to give Gareth that same sense of authority over his already significant contribution to great Australian records.”
The winner of the Archibald Prize will be announced next Friday (April 15) at noon. Past rock-related portraits include Esther Erlich’s life-size rendering of Tim Rogers, Carla Fletcher’s stark painting of C.W Stoneking and Guy Maestri’s portrait of Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu, which won the Archibald in 2009.
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WATCH: Gareth Liddiard performs ‘Strange Tourist’ at the M+N Lunchbox.
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bleh
so bored of boring oz rock men
If only the painting had gaz rocking a drizabone. Like John Farnham.
Dempsey's in it this year also (link):
something Stewart Macfarlane-esque about this.
hope it does well.
don't think dempsey's a finalist.
Liddiard looks like a rotoscoped Substance D addict in that portrait.
Definitely a good thing.
just give it to fabulous diamonds
It's doesn't even look like Dempsey and it looks like Gareth is just about to utter the F-word. ㋡
Doin' a #2.
Hmmm. I don't really get the point of photo-realist painting unless you do something interesting with it, y'know, like Jeffrey Smart's portrait of Germaine Greer.
It'd not bad..it's not good.
The problem also to me is its like the goodies book when I was a kid and there was the many faces of Charles Bronson..and it had the same photo of Charles Bronson about 20 times on the page with a different caption underneath..'happy', 'angry'..you get it..
It's the One 'media release' photo of gareth..looks-like he's used the standard photo of gareth that has been on the net for five years..has the artist captured something unique in this portrait, nah..it's just a nice comic book 90s style.where is Gareths range? And supposedly he has range but I don't see the range in this portrait.
Gareth sat for the artist..but I see no evidence of the sitting. Problem.
Also the style
Also the style..was not meantto be there. The style is the style. It's shit.
Unless the artist couldn't find anything deeper to paint in Gareth...
So who's at fault gareth for the Lawson schtick. Or the artist is shit?
Well well theplot thickens eh?
Double dickhead dissolution. Two dick heads here. Sorry enough...
At least I can take comfort in the fact that if you google ''gareth liddiard archibald'' the number one image is my rockin' out photo of Gareth that I took at The Age EG Awards. Good work google! ㋡
Pity they didn't contact you carbie for some reality..and an understanding of the artist.
The dempsey head is good. At least we see some inner Dempsey.
The rest is tripe. So shit it's embarrassing.
Artist should do what any great painter does.
Cut the head out and throw away the fucked up canvas
'guffaw'
love the title
It's better than the piece of shit Paul Dempsey one.
John farnham one is better than all of them.
I like the Fabulous Diamond cover painting
Farnsy looks like ''I'm an individual'' Jacko in that pic...
To quote an artist friend of mine ''Shame he allowed the Powderfinger ofAustralian Music to paint his portrait''
...what?
don't you mean....
''Shame he allowed the Powderfinger of Australian PAINTERS to paint his portrait''
I like the Richie Benaud Bald Archy.
...or ART/ARTISTS
So, the Liddiard painting didn't win. A portrait of Margaret Olley did.
Complete gallery of the finalists.
I must say, I actually like a few of them.
A, crap. I didn't see the other thread!
i love it!... thats is a awesome painting !