A portrait of the artist Jason Phu by Abdul Abdullah has won the $3,000 packing room prize at the annualArchibald prize.
Phu, who is also a finalist this year with his portrait of actor Hugo Weaving, is depicted sitting astride a horse in Abdullah’s winning painting, titled No mountain high enough. The two artists are close friends, with Phu being best man at Abdullah’s wedding.
“I’ve painted him as I see him – as a ceaseless adventurer who at any time is involved in a dozen conversations on a dozen different platforms, bringing his unique perspective to one flummoxed friend or another,” Abdullah said, accepting the award on Thursday in a pre-recorded message sent from overseas.
Now in its 34th year, the packing room prize is judged by a three-member panel drawn from the 40 AGNSW employees charged with receiving and handling this year’s Archibald entries.
Abdullah described the packing room category as “the Archibald’s community prize”. “It’s also kinda like an artist’s pick and I’m extra happy about that,” he added.
Abdullah won out of 57 finalists up for Australia’s most presitigious portraiture award. This year’s overall Archibald winner will be announced on 9 May.
Celebrity sitters are a minority among the 2025 Archibald nominees; instead, artists have dominated this year, either by painting a self-portrait or one another.
Actor Nicole Kidman and her sister Antonia, actor Miranda Otto and Boy Swallows Universe breakout star Felix Cameron are there, as is radio shock jock Jackie O, singer Katie Noonan, musician William Barton, activist Grace Tame, comedian Aaron Chen, Gardening Australia’s Costa Georgiadis and author Kathy Lette.
Despite it being just days before a federal election – or maybe because of it – politicians barely got a look in this year. The only nod to civic duty appears to be local government Sydney councillor Yvonne Weldon, in Luke Cornish and Christophe Domergue’s painting Blood, sweat and tears.
Among the 57 finalists, a dozen are self portraits while 22 are portraits of another artist. Just over a third of the 2025 nominees are first-time finalists.
Natasha Walsh is the subject of Jonathan Dalton’s finalist work, and has also made the cut with her portrait of artist Atong Atem.
No strangers to Archibald accolades themselves, Cressida Cambell is painted by Natasha Bieniek, Ken Done by Fiona Lowry, and Wendy Sharpe by Lucila Zentner.
Previous Archibald winner Vincent Namatjira has painted himself this year, in his characteristically irreverent way thatmining magnates do not seem to appreciate. A very ill-looking Chris O’Doherty, widely known as Reg Mombassa, has painted himself in hospital with a nose tube. And Mathew Calandra reimagines himself as Nightmare on Elm Street’s villain Freddy Krueger, Yvette Coppersmith has painted herself with a couple of cats and Vipoo Srivilasa has done the same – with a lot more cats.
On Thursday, the finalists were revealed across all three prizes – the $100,000 Archibald for portraiture, the $50,000 Wynne for landscape and sculpture, and the $40,000 Sulman for genre and mural painting.
All three exhibitions will go on public display at the AGNSW from 10 May, until 17 August.
The Archibald finalists will then head to Geelong, Gosford, Muswellbrook, Mudgee, Shoalhaven and Coffs Harbour later this year and in 2026.
More to come