Portrait prizes tend to stir up controversy. The Archibald is notorious for it and the Brisbane Portrait Prize each year comes with its own share of lamenting and gnashing of teeth by those who didn’t make the cut. So, it remains to be seen how this year’s winner will be received.

But here’s the good news – a young artist who loves living in Brisbane has got the top gong.

Redlands local Dylan Mooney (officially he’s in the Redlands Shire but that’s just a technicality) has won this year’s Brisbane Portrait Prize, taking home the $50,000 Lord Mayor’s Prize for his artwork Still Thriving.

The artwork is a double portrait of Mooney and his friend Sam Ramsey in an embrace described by the chief judge Suzanne Cotter (director of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney) as “an embrace which speaks of love, closeness and warmth”.

This portrait is one in a series. It is a digital illustration made with Yuwi (Mackay) ochre and ink, the ochre “representing connection to country and love for each other”.

“For us, Brisbane will always be home,” says Mooney, whose work, both personal and political, addresses issues of identity, representation and relationships.

Suzanne Cotter, director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, says she was immediately drawn to Mooney’s artwork.

“Dylan’s portrait is a work which immediately captures your attention,” Cotter says. “It depicts two people who are embracing; are they friends, lovers, or brothers? Does it matter? It’s an embrace which speaks of love, closeness and warmth.

“Dylan’s Yuwi (Mackay) and Torres Strait Islander (Meriam Nation) background are central to this work. The flesh colours and the colours of the Wattle flowers used are the ochres of the Yuwi region, materials that connect the artist and the subjects to country, to community and to culture.

“The painting speaks of personal experience and the power of love. Their embrace is very intimate. And while it fills you with warmth, it also speaks of a determination which is an affirmation of presence, identity, and self-representation.

“We are moved by that sense of human dignity and strength, and our right to be who we are, and to be seen. Altogether, intellectually, conceptually, and visually it makes for a beautiful and very empowered work.”

This year’s Packer’s Prize went to Liam Nunan for a more traditional self-portrait.

And Archibald Prize winner Fiona Lowry won the Sylvia Jones Prize for Women with Before the crossroads (Vin age 11). The sitter is Lowry’s 11-year-old son, Vincent, and was captured during a transitional period after their family’s recent move to Brisbane.

“The heat, the smell, the sound and even the architecture all feel so viscerally different,” Lowry says. “We are in a state of flux.  It reminds me of a poem by Swedish poet and psychologist Tomas Transtromer called the Blue House, where he reflects on the choices we make in life – it is before the crossroads, before the irrevocable choices.”

Lowry uses her trademark monochrome palette and airbrush technique, imbuing the work with an ephemeral feeling of the complexities of transition and future possibility.

The exhibition features faces that are unfamiliar along with some more recognisable subjects. Browsing is fun and revealing and it will be interesting to see if you agree with the judges’ decision.

The Brisbane Portrait Prize finalists and winners exhibition is on at Brisbane Powerhouse, New Farm, until October 29

brisbaneportraitprize.org

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