Congratulations to our finalists in the 2022 Darling Portrait Prize at the National Portrait Gallery of Australia, Canberra. 

The subject of Renata Pari-Lewis's portrait is Jess Hill, an investigative journalist and writer who is not afraid to tackle contentious issues. Her seminal book and TV series “See What You Made Me Do” has shifted our understanding of domestic violence and is helping to reshape the law in relation to domestic violence and coercive control. Titled "Behind Closed Doors" Pari-Lewis portrayed her subject in a private moment in her bedroom where her guard was down.  "Setting the mood is crucial. I wanted the brushwork and in turn the light, composition and sense of space to portray the gravity of the moment when Jess has to find in herself the stillness and security to do the work she does."

Caroline Zilinsky's work Man with Two Lives is a portrait of John Feitelson, an avid collector and supporter of Australian art

"I titled this painting “Man With Two Lives” because we have often discussed the great fortune of having the opportunity to live two lives in one lifetime, even if ghosts of the past still linger. The carpet represents the flourishing garden of his ever-sprouting harebrained ideas encircled amongst the menorah, a homage to his Jewish faith."

39 works were selected from a field of several hundred for the prize that honours the legacy of Mr L Gordon Darling AC CMG (1921 - 2015) who was instrumental in the establishment of the National Portait Gallery. 

The exhibition will be displayed alongside the National Photographic Portrait Prize from 25 June to 9 October, 2022. Winners will be announced on 25 June.

https://www.portrait.gov.au/exhibitions/darling-portrait-prize-2022