2018 - The Lester Prize

The Lester Prize for Portraiture 2018

2018 Winners

Winner - $50,000 Lester Group Prize

Antoinette Barbouttis, Alexandra

Judges comments, provided by Joanna Gilmour, Dr. Stefano Carboni, and Mathew Lynn:

“I was drawn to the artist’s work first and foremost as a beguiling and effecting portrait. It’s simultaneously powerful and gentle, and demonstrates a palpable connection between artist and sitter, sitter and artist. On close looking, I was struck by the artist’s consummate handling of the medium, and the skill with which she has pushed the possibilities of charcoal without losing its qualities and its capacity for nuance of texture and tone. Having a weakness for drawings, I loved that the artist relished their medium without negating its inherent softness. Finally, the work was, for me, evocative of Pre-Raphaelite portraiture while remaining a striking and sensitive contemporary work.

It caught me by surprise on many levels. First, from the distance, the near-photographic quality of the finished work. Secondly, the incredible technical ability and understanding of the medium in the use of charcoal to create wonderful Chiaroscuro effects and nuances in the drawing. But it is the progressive discovery of the deep connection of the artist with the subject that makes it a sure winner.

Contains a deeply convincing and intangible feeling for the sitter, identifying something essential. Technically masterful, but only as much as is absolutely necessary and no more. A haunting, almost breathing image, somehow conveying the paradox of the eternal and the fugitive.

Winner - Highly Commended Prize

Ruth Leigh, May Wokka Chapman

Judges comments, provided by Joanna Gilmour, Dr. Stefano Carboni, and Mathew Lynn:

I was struck immediately by the sitter’s penetrating gaze and the sense of her character conveyed in tones which evoke the landscape of her country. The artist’s work has a beautiful sculptural quality; and as a portrait is sensitive yet potent and memorable, characterized by great warmth and connection with the subject.

Incredibly sensitive and careful portrait, it conveys beautifully the spirit of the subject, something I have experienced myself several times in my encounters with strong and proud Aboriginal women. This portrait has the power to speak directly to me. I like the Schiele-esque approach, the choice of colours, and the figure’s isolation and sense of three-dimensionality against the creamy background.

A simple, iconic and humorously unsparing image, with an interesting and unfussy combination of stains and direct marks.

Winner - Highly Commended Prize

Peter Wegner, Medicated man

Judges comments, provided by Joanna Gilmour, Dr. Stefano Carboni, and Mathew Lynn:

I was really drawn to this work in that it captures something so intense on such a tiny scale – a small work, but monumental. I loved it for its referencing of Lucian Freud, and for the skill and confidence and painterliness of the handling of the medium.

The small size of the painting is deceiving as it is a truly monumental work. The body of the subject, heavy and not entirely connected with reality, dominates the composition and strongly reminds of Lucien Freud’s approach to subject and colour. Another wonderful work from a wonderful artist.

A very sensitive portrait supported by a masterful display of painting, containing an alchemical sense of embodiment in the material itself.

Winner - Toni Fini Foundation Artist Prize

Benjamin Aitken, Jack

My painting Jack addresses perfection and imperfection, allowing viewers to ponder their preconceived notions about the human face and confront their conventional response to ‘imperfect’ portraiture.

The cap is a nod to my sitter’s interest in cooking, and also cements a place for the portrait in my ongoing body of work which is heavily influenced by text and concrete poetry.

Winner - Baldock Family People's Choice Prize

Jaq Grantford, Just an old drag queen

At an age when most young people are celebrating an exciting and unknown future, Ken Atherton—or ‘Tootsie’ as he was later known—was dealing with a completely different reality. In 1949, at the age of sixteen, his twin brother died. His mother, unable to deal with the grief, committed suicide by drinking carbolic acid. At the age of twenty, Tootsie was jailed in Pentridge for two years, simply for being gay. During that time he had a breakdown and only pulled through in the end through the support of a loving father. It was when Tootsie was sixty-two that he was finally able to celebrate who he really was, and he embarked on a grand new adventure. He became quite famous in the Australian drag scene.

2018 Finalists

Benjamin Aitken • Daevid Anderson • Tyler Arnold • Daryl Austin • Antoinette Barbouttis • Daniel Butterworth • Mal Chambers • Martin Claydon • Joshua Cocking • Desiree Crossing • Susannah Curtis • David Disher • Mark Dober • Kaff Eine • Esther Erlich • Nyaparu Gardiner • Kendal Gear • Mertim Gokalp • Jaq Grantford • Chelsea Gustafsson • Janne Kearney • Nicole Kelly • Hyunji Kim • Ruth Leigh • Kim Leutwyler • Marie Mansfield • Kerry McInnis • Joanne Morris • Yasmin Paterson • Lori Pensini • Glen Preece • Andy Quilty • Caitlin Reilly • John Skillington • Liz Stute • Mark Thompson • Mark Tweedie • William Upchurch • Peter Wegner • Chee Yong

Benjamin Aitken, Jack

Daevid Anderson, The Mask

Tyler Arnold, Self Portrait in Blue Singlet

Daryl Austin, The colourist (Marlene Kingdon)

Antoinette Barbouttis, Alexandra

Daniel Butterworth, Self on cardboard

Mal Chambers, Carly Findlay

Martin Claydon, Artist's mother with postcard

Joshua Cocking, Anthropocentrism (self-portrait)

Desiree Crossing, Johnno McDonno

Susannah Curtis, Lucah

David Disher, Selfie in the Trump Era