Graffiti artist Matt Adnate has been awarded the 2024 Archibald packing room prize with a portrait of Yolngu rapper and artist, Baker Boy. The work is one of 57 portraits chosen as finalists in the prestigious prize.
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00:00 This portrait behind me, Rhythms of Heritage, is this year's Packing Room Prize winner in
00:07 the prestigious Archibald Prize for Portraiture.
00:09 It's painted by graffiti artist Matt Adnate and depicts multi-talented rapper and artist
00:15 Baker Boy.
00:16 You can see in the portrait themes of Matt's background in graffiti art, his relationship
00:22 with Baker Boy, but also if you look closely into the subject's eyes you can see a reflection
00:27 of Arnhem Land where Baker Boy as a Yongu artist hails from in the Northern Territory.
00:33 We spoke with Matt about what he was trying to communicate with this piece.
00:37 With every portrait I paint I'm always trying to communicate something with that person's
00:42 emotion or whether it just even be their history or whatever.
00:47 But knowing Baker Boy quite personally adds an extra layer of the connection in the painting
00:53 and hopefully I'm able to communicate a bit more of his soul and his awesome energy through
00:59 the work.
01:01 Now the Packing Room Prize is the first prize to be awarded in the Archibald and it's selected
01:05 by the people who receive, unpack and hang the portraits.
01:10 This year's Archibald Prize has received more than 2,300 entries across the Archibald Prize,
01:17 the Sulman and the Wynne Prize.
01:19 Fifty-seven finalists have been selected in the Archibald Prize and the winner of the
01:24 $100,000 prize will be selected next Friday.
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