Sasha Grishin said of Barbie Kjar's winning entry, The winner of the Adelaide Perry Drawing Prize for 2024 is Barbie Kjar’s fabulous drawing No expectations. The model for this drawing was a Chinese recent migrant Tiani, who was a martial arts practitioner and had tattooed on his shoulder ‘no expectations’. This is one of those drawings that brought tears to my eyes when I first saw it in the flesh and its magnetic power grows with time. The surface simplicity conceals an exceptionally sophisticated drawing. If you spend a couple of minutes with it, you will be rewarded.'
Barbie Kjar
Congratulations goes to artist, Barbie Kjar, winner of the 2024 Perry Prize for Drawing for her work titled ' No Expectations ', as judged by Judge Emeritus Professor Sasha Grishin AM, FAHA.
Barbie, who is originally from Burnie in Tasmania, takes home the $25,000 acquisitive prize, which is among the most significant of its kind in the country.
Judge's commendations also went to Kaye Green, David Fairbairn, Suzanne Archer and Andrew Antoniou who excelled in a very fine field of 40 finalists in this year's award.
At the opening of the Exhibition of Finalists, Sasha Grishin, commented that this exhibition presents a glorious cross-section and a snapshot of the state of the art of drawing in Australia today. Of all 40 drawings in this exhibition, Sasha said they go far beyond capturing mere visual appearances and make comments on the state of the world, on humankind and on our environment and our place in it. 'Some are humorous and witty, others distressing and deeply troubling. Some have an immediate impact, an instant ‘wow’ factor, others are slow burners, as you are gradually sucked into the work, they reveal their magic and profundity. The drawings challenge you and, as you respond, they slowly unfold and the more time that you spend with them the more that you will see in them.'
In closing Sasha said, 'I find this a very powerful exhibition and humbly thank the artists who have contributed their work to it, and I thank PLC Sydney for enabling this prize to continue and in this way enriching our collective cultural lives.'
Barbie Kjar's work, 'No Expectations'.
Barbie Kjar has a Master of Fine Arts, from RMIT in Melbourne (2022).
Barbie has exhibited extensively across Australia with solo and in group shows. She is the recipient of numerous grants and awards and is included in several public and private collections in Australia, New Zealand, USA, France and England. Important public collections include: the Australian National Gallery and Parliament House in Canberra, National Gallery of Victoria, Queensland University of Technology and University of Southern Queensland, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery in Hobart and Artbank in Sydney.
Barbie has established a national and international reputation as one of the finest contemporary printmakers in Australia. Her beautiful, evocative imagery delicately harmonizes colour, form and the rituals of human behavior to create works that the viewer instantly responds to.
Barbie Kjar accepting the winning award for her work, 'No Expectations' from the 2024 Perry Prize Judge, Emeritus Professor Sasha Grishin AM, FAHA.
“ My drawing practice involves drawing people from life in my studio. I choose people to draw who have an inner creative world, who instinctively understand ideas and who excite me. I then work the preliminary drawings into more worked images and incorporate symbols which have a resonance with the subject. The drawing "No expectations" is modelled on a drawing of Tiani who had recently moved to Melbourne from China. He had the tattoo "no expectations" on his left shoulder. He was experienced in martial arts and one pose involved him looking down across his right arm. We don't know what he was looking at so the gaze takes us out of the drawing, I work with charcoal, graphite, inks and watercolour ”, said Barbie.
For more information about Barbie and her work, click here to visit her website.
Judge's commendations
Suzanne Archer’s ' Fish out of Water'
Andrew Antoniou's 'Night Calling'
Kaye Green’s ' Solitary tree with Guardian Moon'
David Fairbairn’s Isabelle No1 .
Banner image: ‘No Expectations’ (detail) by Barbie Kjar. Winner of the 2024 Adelaide Perry Prize for Drawing.
Congratulations goes to all Prize winners, finalists and entrants!
The Exhibition of Finalists opened on Friday 23 February and
continues from 8.30 am – 4.00 pm weekdays and
11.00 am – 4.00 pm Saturdays until Friday 22 March