Ben Apfelbaum

Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes : Art Gallery Of New South Wales

Featured image – Archibald Prize winner Mitch Cairns  and wife Agatha Gothe-Snape in front of his winning portrait of his wife. All images by Ben Apfelbaum.

To the delight of Sydneysiders and I suspect the Board of Trustees there was the usual post Archibald and Wynne controversy.

Distinguished veteran John Olsen opined words to the effect that the winner of the Archibald Prize was not a portrait but a decorative Matisse like painting. A Herald letter writer said that she would no longer paint in the European tradition but would paint dot paintings.

David Gonski, the Director of the Board of Trustee, announced the Prize winners at midday last Friday with a huge media contingent present.

The Archibald Prize, worth $100,000, went to Sydney artist Mitch Cairns for his portrait of his artist-wife Agatha Gothe-Snape.

The Wynne Prize, worth $50,000, went to Betty Kuntiwa Pumani for ‘Antara’, her portrait of her homeland.

The  Sulman Prize, worth $40000, went to Joan Ross, for her painting, ‘Oh history, you lied to me.’

Jun Chen was highly commended for his portrait of former gallery owner Ray Hughes.

The  Young Archies finalists are on exhibition until 22nd October with the announcement of the winner taking place on 16th September.

The Archibald, Wynne and Sulman exhibitions are on display at the Art Gallery of New South Wales until the 22nd October.

The ANZ People’s Choice Announcement will take place on Wednesday 4th October.

The Salon-des- Refuges exhibition will be on display at the SH Ervin Gallery until Sunday 15th October.

Published by Ben Apfelbaum

My photography began when my father handed me the proverbial brownie box camera as a child. As cameras developed I went through Fujica and Olympus range finders graduating to my first single lens reflex camera, the Minolta SRT101, the latter being the greatest facilitator to my growth as a photographer. Digital photography has only added to this. I was a regular contributor to Camera Craft magazine (Australian Camera ) for over three years. During Australia’s Bicentennial year (1988) I made it a personal project to document the celebrations. This culminated in the creation of a book of my photos which was published in 1989. The book was called CELEBRATING AUSTRALIA and came with an accompanying calendar. My works have appeared in a number of publications including the coffee book entitled MY AUSTRALIA (1989), publisher Robertsbridge Severn. This book had a preface by the then Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke. I was a co-photographer on a book entitled SYDNEY- DISCOVER THE CITY with text written by Robert Treborland. Major Mitchell Press was the publisher. Also for two years I was the photographer for calendars celebrating Sydney’s multicultural communities. The two calendars were entitled MULTICULTURAL SYDNEY. My work appeared in a group exhibition held at Sydney’s Town Hall pertaining to the diversity of life in South America to raise money for orphanages there. I have over one hundred photos stored in the New South Wales State Library archive. I had a solo exhibition held in 2007 entitled Ben’s Lens at the Sydney Jewish Museum which celebrated the vibrancy of the Sydney Jewish community. Some of these photos are on the Museum’s permanent display. I have exhibited internationally firstly at the Spruill Gallery in Atlanta Georgia, united states, and in an exhibition entitled Kosher and Co at the Jewish Museum in Berlin. Currently I am a regular contributor to J-Wire and this esteemed publication.