The National Portrait Gallery recently sponsored a portraiture contest--to be precise, the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2009. The winning entrants, now hanging in the gallery itself, are well worth seeing. Don't take my word for it. You can see them all here.
Which ones do you like? In my cringingly humble opinion, "Laura" deserved its first place prize. "Always a Scout" made me chuckle, as did the punny "Duchess of Toledo." The gentleman portrayed in "Miss Priss" might be the most masculine man this side of the Old Spice guy. And "Jana" has a delightful psychedelic vibe; the painter seems to have found inspiration by dropping acid and leafing through a collection of Hieronymous Bosch's art.
Which ones do you not like? While it's certainly not bad, the frank nudity in "Portrait of Nell" did catch me off guard. It's like bumping into someone in a dark alley--they aren't necessarily a crazed murderer, but it's still not a pleasant experience.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
"Pillow Talk" made me laugh. The 2-liter bottle is a nice touch.
On the other side, "Portrait of Kenyetta and Brianna" is just unsettling, and the accompanying statement is everything I hate about artists.
Ha! I didn't even see "Pillow Talk" the first time around.
And if you thought the statement accompanying "Kenyetta and Brianna" was pretentious, check out the one for "Monique."
Ugh, no kidding. What a load of BS.
Post a Comment