by ben quilty at benquilty.com
I was first turned on to Australian artist Ben Quilty's work in 2009 when he won the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize for his painting of Jimmy Barnes, pictured above. I love his thick, buttery brush work. His use of colour and texture, particularly in his rorschachs, is incredible and his comments on the mortality and self-destruction of male youth in this country are highly perceptive. All of this aside, his continual interpretations of his son Joe as a hamburger are definite highlights in his body of work.
By the way, his paintings are all the more impressive in person but be warned: it will be difficult to resist the temptation to reach out and run your hands over them.
Ben deservedly won the Archibald Prize earlier this year for his painting of fellow artist Margaret Olley.
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