Getting hung in the Brisbane Portrait Prize finalists exhibition is a boon for any artist. And it’s quite something for subjects too –  and people are mostly chuffed when they are asked to sit for a portrait while some may be miffed that they are not.

In a couple of months, we will know who made the cut this year.

Right now, artists are slaving away over hot easels, cameras and computers with entries closing on August 1. Brisbane Portrait Prize is a contemporary portraiture competition showcasing artists and the unique character of Brisbane City while encouraging public engagement with the arts. Any artist with a connection to Brisbane is eligible to enter.

Brisbane Portrait Prize Director Anna Reynolds is expecting a late flurry of entries, as usual.

“Each year we get hundreds of entries in the last two weeks,” Reynolds says. “So far this year we have an eclectic bunch. We’re seeing self-portraits, as well as portraits of family and loved ones.

“There are some big names featured, but also portraits celebrating the contribution of unsung heroes in the community.”

Queensland Ballet’s soon to retire artistic director Li Cunxin is one of the more recognisable portraits thus far. He has been snapped by photographer Wayne Budge (the prize includes digital works) who is known for his portraits of Australian and international music icons.

Anna Reynolds says that while Li has featured previously this new photographic portrait is special.

“It’s quite compelling,” she says. “People are complex and while you get joy and optimism in this one you also get a tougher side.” And a vulnerability.

Since 2019 more than 2500 entries have been considered by the prize judges, with artists coming from all walks of life.

“The wide variety of artistry so far this year includes a self-portrait by GP Subrat Mishra depicting depression among professionals and the importance of self-help. Another entry depicts Madeline Stuart, the world’s first supermodel with Down Syndrome and autism, who is Brisbane born and raised.”

Also in the mix is a lovely painting by Hugo Toro of of internationally renowned Brisbane classical guitarist Karin Schaupp.

“With my Latin cultural background, I am attracted to guitar music,” Toro says.

“Seeing Karin on an online concert with her students during the pandemic lockdown, prompted me to paint her portrait. She is a master at classical guitar and recognised for her talent worldwide.”

The acclaimed Australian actor Zoe Carides is also a talented artist and she has done a double portrait of Lindy Morrison and Jeffrey Wegener.

“Mine is a double portrait of two musicians who both hail from Brisbane, Carides says. “My connection to Brisbane is largely them; I was in a band with one of them in the late 90s, and I’m working on a musical project with the other currently. Also, Brizzy was an important stop on our family holidays to Cairns in the 1970s.”

One of the most interesting portraits this year is actually a statement on the controversy over last year’s winner. The Archibald Prize is contentious every year and we have our own controversies.

A lot of people thought Darren McDonald’s somewhat naïve work, Like A Bridge, a painting of his ailing mother, wasn’t up to scratch.

Artist Dee Gillet Cox, who was a Brisbane Portrait Prize finalist in 2021, critiques the brouhaha over that work in her entry which is entitled Emperor.

“This work unpacks the media outcry which accompanied the awarding of the 2022 Brisbane Portrait Prize to Darren McDonald’s Like a Bridge,” she says.

“Elements of Rene Magritte’s The Treachery of Images have been appropriated alongside features of Like a Bridge to propose that things are not necessarily as they may appear in contemporary art.

“This self-proclaimed, self-portrait, Emperor, bluntly challenges such a viewpoint, posing on linen fabric in no clothes but a culturally cringeworthy Queensland pineapple costume. She has all four feet on the ground, and is making a stand.”

Since 2019, more than 2500 entries have been considered by the Prize judges, with artists from all walks of life. This year around 500 entries are expected.

The prizes, across nine categories, include the coveted $50,000 Lord Mayor’s Prize.

Once entries close it is up to the finalist judges – artist Teho Ropeyarn and associate director of the QUT Art Museum Holly Arden – to choose around 70 works. The finalists will be announced on September 16 and the Finalists Exhibition opens at Brisbane Powerhouse September 28.

Then it’s over to Suzanne Cotter, director of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney, to decide the winners across all categories. Then, stand back and wait for the latest controversy. There’s sure to be one.

brisbaneportraitprize.org