Latest news with #NoMountainHighEnough
Perth Now
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
PICTURED: All the incredible Archibald Prize finalists
Archibald portraits. Picture: Supplied 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.
Perth Now
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
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.
The Age
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
Portrait of artist Jason Phu wins Packing Room Prize
A portrait of Jason Phu by Abdul Abdullah has taken out this year's $3,000 Archibald Packing Room Prize. The winning portrait, No Mountain High Enough, was announced at the Art Gallery of NSW this morning, selected from a pool of 57 finalists in the running for this year's Archibald Prize. Announcing the prize on behalf of the packing room team, Alexis Wildman said it was a difficult choice but the judges had been drawn to the portrait. In its 34th year, the Packing Room Prize is awarded a week before the naming of the official Archibald. It's judged by a panel of gallery staff who receive and unpack the artwork. Entries are assessed on their visual impact and artistic merit. Loading Last year's winner was a powerful portrait of Yolngu rapper and ARIA winner Baker Boy by street artist Matt Adnate. The 2025 Archibald Prize has received 904 entries, the Wynne Prize received 758 entries, and the Sulman Prize a record 732 entries. All up, 139 works have been selected as finalists across the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes 2024: 57 finalists in the Archibald, 52 in the Wynne and 30 in the Sulman.
Sydney Morning Herald
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
Portrait of artist Jason Phu wins Packing Room Prize
A portrait of Jason Phu by Abdul Abdullah has taken out this year's $3,000 Archibald Packing Room Prize. The winning portrait, No Mountain High Enough, was announced at the Art Gallery of NSW this morning, selected from a pool of 57 finalists in the running for this year's Archibald Prize. Announcing the prize on behalf of the packing room team, Alexis Wildman said it was a difficult choice but the judges had been drawn to the portrait. In its 34th year, the Packing Room Prize is awarded a week before the naming of the official Archibald. It's judged by a panel of gallery staff who receive and unpack the artwork. Entries are assessed on their visual impact and artistic merit. Loading Last year's winner was a powerful portrait of Yolngu rapper and ARIA winner Baker Boy by street artist Matt Adnate. The 2025 Archibald Prize has received 904 entries, the Wynne Prize received 758 entries, and the Sulman Prize a record 732 entries. All up, 139 works have been selected as finalists across the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes 2024: 57 finalists in the Archibald, 52 in the Wynne and 30 in the Sulman.
The Guardian
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Archibald prize 2025: Jason Phu portrait by Abdul Abdullah wins packing room prize
A portrait of the artist Jason Phu by Abdul Abdullah has won the $3,000 packing room prize at the annual Archibald prize. Phu is also a finalist with his portrait of Hugo Weaving and a sitter for Abdullah's winning painting, titled No Mountain High Enough, in which he is depicted sitting astride a horse. Abdullah won out of 57 finalists up for Australia's most presitigious portraiture award. This year's overall Archibald winner will be announced on 9 May. Now in its 34th year, the packing room prize is judged by a three-member panel drawn from the 40 AGNSW employees charged with receiving and handling this year's Archibald entries. Celebrity sitters are a the minority among the 2025 nominees; instead, artists have dominated this year, either by painting a self-portrait or one another. Actor Nicole Kidman and her sister Antonia, actor Miranda Otto and Boy Swallows Universe breakout star Felix Cameron are there, as is radio shock jock Jackie O, singer Katie Noonan, musician William Barton, activist Grace Tame, comedian Aaron Chen, Gardening Australia's Costa Georgiadis and author Kathy Lette. Despite it being just days before a federal election – or maybe because of it – politicians barely got a look in this year. The only nod to civic duty appears to be local government Sydney councillor Yvonne Weldon, in Luke Cornish and Christophe Domergue's painting Blood, sweat and tears. Among the 57 finalists, a dozen are self portraits while 22 are portraits of another artist. Just over a third of the 2025 nominees are first-time finalists. Natasha Walsh is the subject of Jonathan Dalton's finalist work, and has also made the cut with her portrait of artist Atong Atem. No strangers to Archibald accolades themselves, Cressida Cambell is painted by Natasha Bieniek, Ken Done by Fiona Lowry, and Wendy Sharpe by Lucila Zentner. Previous Archibald winner Vincent Namatjira has painted himself this year, in his characteristically irreverent way that mining magnates do not seem to appreciate. A very ill-looking Chris O'Doherty, widely known as Reg Mombassa, has painted himself in hospital with a nose tube. And Mathew Calandra reimagines himself as Nightmare on Elm Street's villain Freddy Krueger, Yvette Coppersmith with a couple of cats and Vipoo Srivilasa with a lot of cats. On Thursday, the finalists were revealed across all three prizes – the $100,000 Archibald for portraiture, the $50,000 Wynne for landscape and sculpture, and the $40,000 Sulman for genre and mural painting. All three exhibitions will go on public display at the AGNSW from 10 May, until 17 August. The Archibald finalists will then head to Geelong, Gosford, Muswellbrook, Mudgee, Shoalhaven and Coffs Harbour later this year and in 2026. More to come
