© National Portrait Gallery 2024
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Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia
Phone +61 2 6102 7000
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Darling Portrait Prize 2024 Finalist
Surya Bajracharya
born Nepal 1979, Australia from 1984
In reverence of comedic wisdom – Gerard Lee 2023
dry brushed charcoal on paper
‘In reverence of comedic wisdom is a portrait of Gerard Lee, cherished family friend, mentor and writer. In recent years, Gerard and I have come back into closer contact, and he has offered me counsel and hope for a way forward. This is how I see him in my portrait, determined, thoughtful, optimistic, with a droll comment waiting in the wind. A reply from Gerard during the portrait-making process: “Look, I built the face, from pain and agony and the ability to look beyond all that into the wide blue yonder … What’s it worth to you? What’s the prize money? What’s my cut?”’
Kamberri/Canberra-based artist Surya Bajracharya’s practice encompasses printmaking, painting and sculpture and oscillates between place, politics and personal experience.
© The artist
The Darling Portrait Prize is a biennial national prize for Australian portrait painting honouring the legacy of Mr L Gordon Darling AC CMG.
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