Canberra's ELK the first stencil artist to make the finals of the Archibald prize

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.

bloodnut said :

…someone who has been hung in the finals.

Ooh, that sounds a bit saucy!

grunge_hippy said :

Who doesnt know who father bob is?

Mrs Chop – She’d have no idea

SnapperJack said :

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.

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.

Who doesnt know who father bob is?

johnboy said :

Given the tropfest movie on their work together i’d guess it was from life.

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!

Great work – hope it gets the prize! (ELK, not Pratt)

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.

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.

No surprises there – good on you dude. good on you.