Archibald Prize 2023

“Artists Mitch Cairns and Elizabeth Pulie are old friends. ‘I first asked Elizabeth to sit for this portrait seven years ago. Over that time, I have reflected on her preoccupation with the many histories of conceptual art,’ says Cairns, a five-time Archibald finalist, who won the award in 2017 with a portrait of another artist, his partner Agatha Gothe-Snape. ‘When it came to making this portrait, it struck me that the “idea” of her unfixed practice might be more interesting than seeking a representational likeness. By this I mean the challenge of painting an aspect of Elizabeth’s practice, much like...