"We all know sometimes art pushes the boundaries but I think this time it has gone too far…I think for most of the community, and I join them, this is a painting we simply didn't need to see," she said.
Asked if the NSW Art Gallery should be stopped from hanging the painting, Ms Keneally answered in the negative but said she wouldn't look at it. "It's been entered and I think the community will make their own judgment.” (www.news.com.au/national/dennis-ferguson-portrait-for-archibald-prize-a-step-too-far-says-kristina-keneally)
As the complaint calls keep coming in along with calls for the freedom of artistic expression, the media relations staff comment that this situation is an illustration of art doing it’s job by generating discussion and debate.
An anonymous caller offers $20 000 to buy the portrait in question. Another caller is disgraced that the portrait will be exhibited in the Archibald. The callers don’t realise that the judging will happen only in a few days and the portrait wasn’t hung in the exhibition.
It’s the afternoon of the second day of the internship and I am present at the interview of the artist responsible for the above mentioned controversial portrait. He is being interviewed for Channel Nine’s evening news. Apart from being a practicing artist he is also an art teacher; he is calm, composed and happy to explain his choice of subject matter. The public misunderstood the portrait’s intention. The artist’s intention was to portray figures from an event that received recent media attention but he is not supporting the actions of either of the subjects portrayed. In the long run, the portrait doesn’t get selected and any would-be riots are avoided.
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