The Bald Archies
Published by Matt Glover July 12th, 2006 in Exhibitions
In Australia, there is a well known and prestigious portrait competition known as the Archibald Prize. The competition is an oportunity for some of Australia’s finest artists to be told how bad their work is by a panel of people that wouldn’t know one end of a brush from the other.
Around seven hundred entries are received each year, with only a fraction of those hung for display. A winner is selected by a panel of judges and a people’s choice award is selected by the public. Rarely is the same piece of work selected by both the judges and the public.
There are always magnificent pieces entered by hard working and gifted artists who have sacrificed much for what they do. Thus, it seems a shame that the whole thing is so easy to make fun off!
The Bald Archies is a cartoon exhibition containing caricature and other humourous works, usually of celebrities, politicians or other well known identities. The winner is reportedly selected by an Australian Cockatoo, which is probably a good thing as most of the ‘real’ judges are drunk for the duration of the exhibition.
The Bald Archies are being shown for the month of July in my home city (Melbourne) before travelling to some of the regional areas.
Go and see it if you can!
Thanks for the great blog site. I am considering throwing my hat into the ring with cartooning on the side. Your site was very helpful in answering many of the questions I have had. Are your rates in USAmerican dollars? Just curious.
I will be perusing much more you have to offer - good work!
Best of luck with it Jason!
The rates that I’ve linked to on http://www.mattglover.com are in Australian Dollars, but I’m in the process of gathering recommended rates from all over the world.
It’s prooving to be a bit more difficult than I thought it would be!