DEAR DIARY // archibald is back

From top, left to right: Claus Stangl ‘Taika Waititi’; Nick Stathopoulos ‘The man in the red scarf: Wayne Tunnicliffe’; Blak Douglas ‘Moby Dickens’; Katherine Hattam ‘Helen Garner speaks French’; Joanna Braithwaite ‘McManusstan’; Laura Jones ‘Brooke and Jimmy’; Jonathan Dalton ‘Day 77’; Hong Fu ‘Portrait of Peter Wegner’; Natasha Bieniek ‘Patricia Piccinini’; Fiona Lowry ‘Glenn Murcutt’; Jeremy Eden ‘Samuel Johnson OAM’; Jasper Knight ‘Abdul Abdullah’; Mostafa Azimitabar ‘KNS088 (self-portrait)’; Lewis Miller ‘Deborah Conway’; Yvette Coppersmith ‘Ella Simons seated’

The Archibald is finally back in person (and of course in portraits) with an array of styles and techniques on show. This year’s exhibition did not disappoint with the high standard of work, as well as having the highest number of entries and finalists from Aboriginal artists. Blak Douglas won the Archibald Prize for his significant depiction of artist Karla Dickens. Claus Stangl won the Packing Room Prize for his 3D inspired painting of director, writer and actor Taika Waititi.

Australians sitting for the artworks included film makers, curators, artists, writers, journalists, architects, actors and musicians. This is a selection of some of my favourites and there were so many pieces that I appreciated it was hard to narrow down my picks. The subject matters have been painted in a multitude of ways from realism to abstract, but the common factor is that I find inspiration in all of them.