Paul Kelly AO (b. 1955) is one of Australia's greatest singer/songwriters. Since making his performance debut in 1974, he has released 27 studio albums and won many accolades, including seventeen ARIA awards. Kelly sings with a marked Australian accent and many of his songs refer to specific Australian people, places and experiences. Though he has written most of his long and poetic songlist alone, over the course of his career he has also collaborated brilliantly, particularly with Indigenous performers such as Kev Carmody, Christine Anu and Yothu Yindi.
Warwick Thornton is a Kaytetye man, writer, director and cinematographer. In 2013 he was commissioned to create a portrait of Kelly for the musician's biographical exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery. Conceiving this single-channel digital video, Thornton wrote: 'I want to get Paul to hold up a Marshall amp – its weight bearing down on him – as he gently spins in a clockwise direction on a revolving platform. Paul will be dressed in his favourite suit and we will rig an amp to rest gently on his shoulders in a moodily lit studio. The idea is that the amp represents a heavy burden, music is a heavy burden, but Paul's strength as a singer/songwriter is shown through him being a strong pillar – able to bear the weight of this heavy responsibility.'
Commissioned with funds provided by Ian Darling 2013
© Warwick Thornton
Ian Darling AO (2 portraits supported)
On one level The Companion talks about the most famous and frontline Australians, but on another it tells us about ourselves.
Joanna Gilmour reflects on 25 years of collecting at the National Portrait Gallery.
Tegan McAuley looks at the evolution of video portraiture.
