However, I was (like many others) not so impressed with the portrait that won.
So as per the assignment, I picked the portrait that I believe is a more deserving winner.
Treaties for madmen only
Matthew Regan 2008
The fascinating sunset colours and the rather dry expression really sell this portrait to me. I like the way the tree on the left almost frames the man, or at least prevents our eye drifting off the page and pushes it back to the important subject matter. The out of the ordinary idea of having a man in a suit out in the middle of nowhere reading the paper also grabbed me as intriguing, as i would associate that more with the typical white collar man having his morning coffee at a cafe on the corner before heading to the office. A great concept and execution.
Ok, as I mentioned before I wasn't terribly impressed with the winner. That being said, I could see that it was a technically well executed piece and still deserved its place in the exhibition. There were other portraits though that I feel had no place there, with the most unworthy (sorry couldn't pick a nicer word) piece being;
George and Donny
Justin Spiers 2008
To be completely blunt, I got quite angry looking at this portrait for one simple reason, the dog in the cage. This portrait to me seems to condone animal cruelty, and that makes you lower than... something I won't post on this blog. This is more than enough reason for me to say I think this portrait has no place in the exhibition.
