Latest news with #ArtExpress
Sydney Morning Herald
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
Artist Julie Fragar wins Archibald Prize with portrait of best friend
Julie Fragar has taken out this year's $100,000 Archibald Prize with an epic portrait of her best friend, Justene Williams, portrayed as a master conjurer of a multiverse of characters and performance. 'Justene is incredible. She has an amazing way with materials where she can grab anything and I feel fortunate that she allowed me to do this portrait. There is nobody like her,' Fragar said on Friday after being named the winner. 'The work is a reflection on the experience of making art to deadlines and the labour and love of being a mother.' Fragar's winning portrait, Flagship Mother Multiverse (Justene), was sketched in one sitting, then put together over three months, with the help of photographs, in her Brisbane studio. Williams' daughter is a tiny figure in the background standing atop a sculptured rock tower. Fragar cried happy tears on being told by Art Gallery of NSW director Maud Page of her win. Looking back on her younger self, Fragar said, her win seemed unimaginable. 'My first goal was to be included in Art Express [exhibition] and I remember walking through the art gallery and saying, 'Oh goodness, imagine if I could be at the entrance to Art Express',' she said. On the $100,000 prizemoney, Fragar said she intended to 'sit there and look at it in disbelief and then buy an easel I haven't made myself'.
The Age
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
Artist Julie Fragar wins Archibald Prize with portrait of best friend
Julie Fragar has taken out this year's $100,000 Archibald Prize with an epic portrait of her best friend, Justene Williams, portrayed as a master conjurer of a multiverse of characters and performance. 'Justene is incredible. She has an amazing way with materials where she can grab anything and I feel fortunate that she allowed me to do this portrait. There is nobody like her,' Fragar said on Friday after being named the winner. 'The work is a reflection on the experience of making art to deadlines and the labour and love of being a mother.' Fragar's winning portrait, Flagship Mother Multiverse (Justene), was sketched in one sitting, then put together over three months, with the help of photographs, in her Brisbane studio. Williams' daughter is a tiny figure in the background standing atop a sculptured rock tower. Fragar cried happy tears on being told by Art Gallery of NSW director Maud Page of her win. Looking back on her younger self, Fragar said, her win seemed unimaginable. 'My first goal was to be included in Art Express [exhibition] and I remember walking through the art gallery and saying, 'Oh goodness, imagine if I could be at the entrance to Art Express',' she said. On the $100,000 prizemoney, Fragar said she intended to 'sit there and look at it in disbelief and then buy an easel I haven't made myself'.
