Portrait of Anthony Albanese 2018 ( mad magazine version )

The above listed work is one of the 4 portraits of Anthony Albanese MP, that I painted in 2018 for that year’s Archibald portraiture prize entry. The brief for the Archibald is essentially, to paint an Australian of note or significance ( and you can interpret that any way you like ). As my then art studio was just around the corner from his electoral office, I had determined he was enough of an Australian of significiance for me to paint, as I knew he had been depty PM under Julia Gillard and I didn’t have very far to walk to his office, so it was as they say, a “ no- brainer “… so I had made an appointment with his Marrickville office on the 7th of March, 2018, to meet, do some sketches and take some photos of him that I could paint from…and the first question his office asked me, was did I live in his electorate? …and living just around the corner, that was a very easy yes. Keeping in mind at this point in time, Anthony is not PM, he is not yet even opposition leader…he’s simply the member for Marrickville…and I live just around the corner, in his electorate…
…so as I’m sitting there in his office waiting area… observing his staff at work, I become quite quickly aware by their behavior, that the majority of his staff are quite possibly volunteer’s… and that’s quite contrary to what I had expected…it tells me that politicians contrary to popular belief, often have a limited budget to work with…
…and then, rather than me being escorted in to meet him, he actually comes out to meet me in his waiting room and invite me into his office…which is not at all what I had expected…
…so there we are in his office, and I’m doing a quick sketch while informally chatting, I present to him my artist sketch pad, upon which I’ve scrawled “ I sat for my Archibald portrait today, for Brett Williams, 7th March 2018 “ ( and this is a requirement for the Archibald ) …and he scrawls his signature on it. We talk briefly about his Italian heritage and his single parent, housing commission childhood…and I have to say, it’s extremely humbling…and moving for me…but, I push these feelings aside, as I’m acutely aware I need to see emotions on his face…emotions I can take photos of and paint from for my portrait paintings…
…but as I start snapping away on my smart phone, I become acutely aware his face is quite unemotional and unresponsive…and, I can see for him, it’s just another day at the office…but, I’m prepared for this…and I say “ so , Anthony I’ve got this idea, right?? …if I throw a word at you, can you just enact it for me??...like …Passion!!! …( take photo )…and now …despair!!! ( take photo )…and now…desire!! ( take photo )!” …but instead of enacting any of these emotion suggestions I’ve just thrown at him, he is just sitting there, laughing at me!!!...and you can see him in the photos just laughing at me…but, I can see he totally gets where I’m coming from, cause he then says…” you know Brett, when I’m doing public speaking, I use my hands a lot “ …and as soon as he uses his hands, his face comes to life and I get the best photos…and these are the photos I will get the best paintings from…so, as well as the painting, you will also receive a copy of Anthony’s signature, stating he sat for his portrait, for me with the date( April 7, 2018 ) and also copies of the photos taken by me, on the day ( 68 )… …and if you are interested in the entire Anthony triptych ( the 3 portraits ), please let me know… and yes, I am also open for portrait commissions…

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Brett grew up in a family of artists in New Zealand, UK, Norway and Australia. He graduated from QCA in 1986 with a major in painting and has worked both within the fine arts and also as a commercial painter and sculptor, starting out at world expo 88 and going on to notably create works for Opera Australia and has also painted theatrical back drops for the Sydney Opera house.
He has participated in numerous group shows and has held 6 solo exhibitions, both as a sculptor and a painter. He has won two 2nd place sculpture prizes and has submitted work into the Archibald portrait prize 3 times, the last entry being a triple portrait of Anthony Albanese.

This current series of Paintings, displayed here is entitled;
THE SECRET LANGUAGE OF CLOUDS
…for many years I’ve been toying with the idea of painting clouds…I mean like painting portraits of clouds…as if they were people….I see clouds all the time… there is something very likeable…and reassuring about clouds…. …and I am very aware I find some clouds far more attractive than others… some are strong and definite and seem very sure of themselves…some are wispy and lacey and delicate…they come in all shapes and sizes…kind of like us…and I’ve kind of come to see myself as a connoisseur of clouds, of sorts…some clouds are the manifestations of the unformed, unconscious thoughts that drift through our minds…
…some clouds evoke moods… like a sunny day sky dotted with a few soft, but strong white clouds conjures up a happy sun- shiny mood for me…
…I have a feeling of connectedness to the the idea that like us, clouds also need air and water to survive …like us, they are also mostly water….I find it reassuring that we are similar, as I’m not much interested in the science of meteorology…I find it all rather dry and dull and…ummm…scientific…and predictably boring…instead I am much more interested in poetry and in ideas …ideas like, that clouds may be a repository of our consciousness… and without us feeding them with our consciousness, clouds could actually cease to exist…imagine a world with no clouds…how would that make you feel? …kind of like a desert in the sky?…like an absence of emotion?
…things I have learnt about clouds; clouds like us, equally as much as we like clouds…clouds imitate weather forecasts… clouds imitate many things…if you have ever seen a cloud that looked like something else, like an animal or a face…it’s not a co-incidence…clouds cast shadows …clouds ride upon our combined breath…we create them by breathing and thinking …clouds like being with clouds ( much like cars like being with cars…it’s kind of counter intuitive ) … there are many conspiracy theories about clouds, but none of them are true…https://www.facebook.com/visualartistbrettwilliams