Besties horsing around secure Archibald's packing prize
West Australian painter Abdul Abdullah has won the coveted Archibald's Packing Room Prize with a portrait of his best friend perched on a loose-tongued horse.
Working on the painting titled No Mountain High Enough for over a month, Abdullah beat out more than 2000 entries in the Archibald Portrait exhibition.
The image of fellow Archibald entrant and close ally Jason Phu was chosen unanimously by the 40 Art Gallery of NSW packers who oversaw the thousands of paintings arriving for the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman prizes.
Abdullah will receive $3000 ahead of the exhibition that opens on May 10.
"In this painting, Jason has overcome an obstacle only to find himself up against something else and perhaps riding into town to solve a problem," he told AAP after winning the prize on Wednesday.
"Jason is my best friend, so I've wanted to paint him for a very long time, and also wanted to gift him a painting.
"The Archibald was a really good excuse to do both of those things.
"It was a special request from Jason to have animals around him in this painting."
Senior installation officer Alexis Wildman said the packing room team were instantly drawn to the portrait.
"On a technical level, this portrait is very well painted," she said.
"It really captures the essence of the subject with the image of a lone ranger, an intrepid jokester or a quiet hero navigating the rocky terrain of today's social climate.
"This immediately sparked conversation among the packing room team."
This year marks Abdullah's seventh time as an Archibald finalist.
He comes up against 57 Archibald portraits that include activist Grace Tame, radio host Jackie O, sisters Antonia and Nicole Kidman as well as novelist Kathy Lette.
The Archibald winners announcement will take place on May 9, with the exhibition opening to the public on May 10.
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