Graffiti artist Matt Adnate has been awarded the 2024 Archibald Packing Room Prize with a portrait of Yolngu rapper and artist, Baker Boy. The work is one of 57 portraits unveiled as finalists in the prestigious prize.
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00:00 This portrait behind me, painted by graffiti artist Matt Adnate, has been crowned as this
00:07 year's Packing Room Prize winner in the prestigious Archibald Prize. Now, the subject of the prize
00:15 is popular rapper and multi-talented artist Baker Boy, who hails from the Northern Territory
00:22 from Arnhem Land. Matt Adnate, it's his second time as a finalist following his portrait
00:30 of Silverchair frontman Daniel Johns being selected as a finalist last year. But this
00:36 year's portrait we can see some themes of Matt's background as a graffiti artist, his
00:43 relationship and connection with Baker Boy who he's worked with previously. But also
00:49 if you look really closely into the centre of Baker Boy's eyes, you can actually see
00:54 a reflection of Arnhem Land, of where he hails from in the Northern Territory. I spoke with
00:58 Matt a little bit earlier about what he was trying to communicate with this piece.
01:03 With every portrait I paint I'm always trying to communicate something with that person's
01:08 emotion or whether it just even be their history or whatever. But knowing Baker Boy quite personally
01:15 adds an extra layer of the connection in the painting and hopefully I'm able to communicate
01:21 some of his, a bit more of his soul and his awesome energy through the work.
01:27 Which other paintings have been announced as finalists, Sean?
01:31 Well, Ros, like every year there's a broad range of paintings and portraits in this year's
01:38 Archibald Prize finals. There's 57 in total. They cover actors, journalists, public figures,
01:46 sports people from a range of backgrounds of artists as well. There was a record number
01:54 of First Nations artists entering across the three prizes, which is the Wynne, the Sulman
02:00 and the Archibald Prize. There were more than 2,300 entries in total. So we've got a broad
02:07 range of perspectives, a broad range of styles and mediums as well on offer here. The final
02:17 prize, the winner of the $100,000 prize will be announced next Friday.
02:23 Sean, thank you.
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