Reviews on Inside Out Upside Down Gallery Site
Sulman Prize 2010
This years review is a none review. I've decided to apply the same approach to producing a review as the judge did to selecting the works. I'm only going to comment on paintings that don't contain animals and I'm only going to reference works that are not produced by my friends (this follows the reverse of the published approach taken by the judge).
But before you get the impression I don't like what was selected, let me slip in that compared to last years selection, this years is a great relief. There are some very competently painted works, some quite imaginative peices and an overall impression that the artists enjoyed creating most of the works (ok I do not like pink poneys, but for an explanation of this you will have to go see the exhibition). The Sulman saves the Archibald, Wynne, Sulman exhibition from being sadly disappointing.
My entry this year was a painting I did not prepare specifically for the Sulman. In past years I have bothered and produced work that may have had some topicality. Since one of the obvious judging criteria (in every year) is that the judges friends must get on the wall there is little point in making an effort unless your friend happens to be the judge.
The winner this year has the worst of all possible outcomes from the artists perspective. The painting is excellent, is imaginative (though a touch understated for my taste) and shows the skill of a real painter. Unfortunately the judge let slip to the media his approach to selection, basically he had to include his friends (though to be clear it appears that the winner is not the judge's friend) and he only wanted paintings with animals in them (there may have been others but I could not be bothered reporting them). In short he did not pick what could generally be considered the best painting other than by himself and he undermined the credit that would have been the artists by publishing his selection criteria. Not being one of the judges friends I'm not suprised at not being hung (though annoyed with myself for not submitting a painting that contained an animal).
Getting back to my painting though (it was entered but not selected, but since I like it I'm commenting on it anyway). This painting has previously been selected to hang in the Manning, Stanthorpe, St.George and one international online exhibition (pluse it appeared at the Camberwell last year and will appear again at an exhibition at the TAP Gallery in October). It is a realist painting though it borders on surrealism, edwardianism, naturalism, academisism, if you can think of another ism please fill in the blanks yourself. It does not slavishly follow Velasquez or any other school of realist technique. The purpose of the painting (yes I do actually think a painting should say something, drop a few clues etc) is to investigate the relationship between the living and the dead through museums. A touch essoteric you say, yes but I doubt it is any more essoteric than last years Sulman winner.
The painting contains commentary on topics that may offend and alludes to art history at many points. It contains a dulled down image of the first minor ever to appear in an academic painting while high as a kite (Rochegrosse 1882), a token dark skinned person (to counter point the otherwise all white cast), a not so skiny young lady (to appease the feminists), not one naked male or female ( there are too many people in this painting and nudity would have added nothing to it), a commentary on modern music and it's efforts to ignore the distant past, a commentary of what it is like to see elements of your life appear in museums before you die, plus more.
My apology to anyone that thought I was going to review the Sulman as an actual exhibition of works selected by a judge, but seriously I only wanted to do my own thing this year.
Real Refusals at the TAP Gallery 45 Burton Street, Darlinghurst where you could see the Real Sulman is now closed. There will be works refused by Archibald, Wynn and Sulman selectors.
Hopefully next year the Trustees will pick a judge with a broader view of life and a broader view of what constitutes genre painting.
author: Neil Miley