15 March 2012

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

| johnboy
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father bob

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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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.

Holden Caulfield9:25 am 16 Mar 12

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.

grunge_hippy9:37 pm 15 Mar 12

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!

I live in Macgregor5:36 pm 15 Mar 12

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.

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!

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.

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