This isStill Thriving by Redlands-based artist Dylan Mooney,a double portrait of Mooney and his friend Sam Ramsey,and the winner of the $50,000 Lord Mayor’s Prize in the Brisbane Portrait Prize 2023.
The Brisbane Portrait Prize is the latest achievement by Dylan Mooney,an artist living with a significant disability.Supplied
The award,along with seven other prizes,was announced at Brisbane Powerhouse,
The prize is the latest remarkable achievement by an artist who is living with a significant disability.
“Dylan represents such an interesting cross-section of the community,being First Nations,Torres Strait Islander and South Sea Islander,queer and legally blind,” said Nicholas Smith,who is director of N. Smith Gallery in Sydney,and represents Mooney.
Smith said that Mooney works in a digital medium because the backlit display of a digital screen assists his vision.
Mooney’s Still Thriving is well known to Sydneysiders as a 40-metre mural painted on the Top of the Town building in Darlinghurst for Sydney WorldPride.AFR
“The fact that he’s able to produce such detailed work with his disability,and represents that cross-section of the community,I think is just outstanding.”
Mooney,whose exhibitionBlak Rainbow:L’art de Dylan Mooney opens in Paris on November 15,said it was an honour to be awarded the Lord Mayor’s Prize.
“To be shown with so many other amazing artists from Brisbane is a blessing,” he said.
The 2023 competition was judged by Suzanne Cotter,director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia.
“The painting speaks of personal experience and the power of love,” Cotter said.
“While it fills you with warmth,it also speaks of a determination which is an affirmation of presence,identity,and self-representation.”
Cotter said Mooney’s Yuwi (Mackay) and Torres Strait Islander (Meriam Nation) backgrounds were central to his entry.
Sylvia Jones Award for Women Artists:Before the crossroads (Vin age 11) by Fiona Lowry.Supplied
Sixteen-year-old St Joseph’s College student Hayden Pressley won the Next Gen Prize forPaul Croker:A Timeless Devotee. The teenager’s evocative oil-on-board painting depicts a surveyor he met around a campfire in Alice Springs.
“The flesh colours and the colours of the Wattle flowers used are the ochres of the Yuwi region,materials that connect the artist and the subjects to country,to community and to culture.”
Among the Brisbane Portrait Prize winners,Archibald Prize-winning artist Fiona Lowry took home the $5000 Sylvia Jones Prize for Women Artists for her portraitBefore the Crossroads (Vin Age 11).
To be eligible for the Brisbane Portrait Prize,both the artist and the sitter must have a connection to Brisbane. Finalists this year included by two different artists.
Next Gen Award:Paul Croker:A Timeless Devotee by Hayden Pressley.Supplied
The Brisbane Portrait Prize is free to view and is on show at the Brisbane Powerhouse until October 29.