"History will be kind to us, because we will write it"
On the Archibald Prize website you will find listed as a finalist on Luke Cornish, better known around Canberra as ELK.
We believe he is the first stencil artist to achieve this honour which is a hell of a thing for a local.
Amongst ELK’s many claims to fame included Liberal MLA Steve Pratt attacking his commissioned artwork and ending up on The Chaser:
UPDATE 15/03/12 12:50: Rowan Henderson has been in touch to point out Luke isn’t the only local finalist:
Local Canberra artists Gary Smith and Frank Thirion also made the finals with their entry ‘The faceless men’.
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And well deserved too. His work is amazing and this piece is no exception – look at the detail, even down to the glint of light on the glasses! I hope he wins. It’s only a pity he’s not really our Luke anymore, having moved last year to Melbourne where I understand he is quickly gaining notority. Good on him.
There’s a piece on him making the finals on news.com.au today as well – http://www.news.com.au/national/luke-cornish-hoping-to-make-the-archibald-prize-finals-with-portrait-of-father-bob-maguire/story-e6frfkvr-1226300189069
There’s a photo of him standing in front of the entry, and from a distance it looks even more impressive. Good luck ELK! I always love walking down Petrie Plaza and seeing his work – it’d be great to be able to walk down there every day, and admire the work of an Archibald winner!
No surprises there – good on you dude. good on you.
Awesome. his stuff is so good, it’s doubly-galling to think of how much they spend on those asinine public artworks, and we get his amazingly good stuff for free.
Is this an original portrait or a stencil lifted off a photograph? I imagine the arty types in Sydney will have a field day if this entry wins.
Given the tropfest movie on their work together i’d guess it was from life.
Great work – hope it gets the prize! (ELK, not Pratt)
johnboy said :
Yeah he said it was from life.
Technically amazing – but sorry I don’t think it works as a portrait of Father Bob for a general audience, as it’s completely lacking in context. You would have to know exactly who he is to interpret this face – if you didn’t know who this amazing man is, you’d think it was a picture of just an angry man. Not sure whether the Archies assume a general audience or whether a portrait just intended for people who know the subject well would rate in the comp.
Love the detail! The ear hair!
Who doesnt know who father bob is?
SnapperJack said :
I think you’ll find that the majority of Archibald’s are of people that don’t have the time to sit properly and who have their painting ‘lifted’ off a photograph… source: someone who has been hung in the finals.
grunge_hippy said :
Mrs Chop – She’d have no idea
bloodnut said :
Ooh, that sounds a bit saucy!
After seeing the rest of the field – this one should be a shoo-in notwithstanding its flaw! Not the best year for the Archies overall.