By Jed Lanyon
The TarraWarra Museum of Art opened the Archibald Prize exhibition on Saturday 14 September, featuring the portraits of 54 of Australia’s leading and emerging artists, including Tony Costa’s Archibald Prize winning portrait of Lindy Lee.
The Sydney artist spoke exclusively to the Mail and shared the story behind winning one of Australia’s most prestigious and oldest art awards.
“It was the morning, and the phone rang. The voice at the other end said, is that you Tony?
“And the voice said, this is Michael Brand from the Art Gallery of New South Wales, and then the phone cut out.
“And I said, I know what’s happened. The painting has fallen off the wall, they have damaged it and they want me to go in and have a look.”
Mr Costa returned the call to learn that his artwork was in perfect condition and that he had won the 2019 Archibald Prize, which he described as an overwhelming experience.
“Two and a half hours later I’m standing on a stage giving a speech and collecting the award.”
Mr Costa painted fellow artist Lindy Lee.
He said he wanted to portray Lee in a meditative state levitating on the canvas, practicing her Zen Buddhism faith.
“It’s rather unusual in that most of the people I paint, I have either met or have known for a number of years.
“Lindy Lee was quite unique in that I had heard she was a wonderful person… I kept hearing how lovely she was.
“I paint portraits, but I’m not interested in your face. I’m really interested in who you are as a human being. And that’s what I hope to trap with any painting.
“And in Lindy’s case, I’m painting all of the things I can’t see about her. That’s what I’m interested in.
“If I can inject those sensations and feelings in the portrait and then if those feelings are reflected back at you. As far as I’m concerned, that’s a successful painting.
“It might not even look like the subject. It doesn’t matter. What really matters is the feeling. As an expressionist I put feelings over and above physical accuracy.”
Mr Costa revealed that he hasn’t used a paint brush for over 30 years and that his prize winning portrait was created with his hands.
“I’m essentially a very impatient person, so I paint with my hands… I wear surgical gloves; they are very thin and at the end of a painting session there might be 100 gloves laying around the studio floor.”
Mr Costa welcomes visitors to TarraWarra to take a close inspection of his artwork to try and identify which parts of his hands, fingers and thumbs had been used in particular places of his portrait.
“I found that by putting an image down quickly with my hand, had a greater visual impact than sitting there with my brush and trying to paint it.”
TarraWarra Museum of Art director Victoria Lynn said she hopes the exhibition will bring over 50,000 people to the Yarra Valley and through the gallery doors.
“It’s wonderful to have the Archibald Prize back here at TarraWarra, it’s been a long wait, but we’re really delighted.”
The museum will allow visitors to vote for their favourite artwork and will later reveal the Victorian people’s choice selection.
While Ms Lynn said that she doesn’t like to pick favourites, she shared that she was intrigued by Anh Do’s portrait, which features other paintings and imagery within the hair of George Gittoes.
The 2019 Archibald Prize exhibition will run from 14 September to 5 November at the TarraWarra Museum of Art.
The museum will be hosting intimate evening sessions with certain artists throughout the exhibition.
For more information, visit https://www.twma.com.au/
