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March 27, 2026 \u2014 5:51pm<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n Save this article for later<\/p>\n Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime.<\/p>\n Got it<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n It\u2019s 3.45pm and the clock is counting down on the final entry day of this year\u2019s Archibald, Sulman and Wynne prizes.<\/p>\n Two packing room assistants stand at either end of the steel roller door, watching for latecomers. The car park is nearly empty.<\/p>\n More than 570 entries flooded into the Art Gallery of NSW on Friday, the final day of entries for the contemporary art prizes, of which the Archibald is the most famous. There are, however, always a few artists who have left delivery to the last minute \u2013 underestimating the effort to bring together a canvas for public showing, the time taken to pack and drive it from studio to gallery in Friday afternoon peak hour, or who simply are caught up in some misadventure.<\/p>\n One of the lucky last was first-time Wynne Prize entrant Matthew Cook, who set off for the gallery from Murwillumbah on the NSW Far North Coast at 2am. He arrives sleep-deprived with more than an hour to spare, only to discover that wind had played havoc with his canvas on the eight-hour drive.<\/p>\n \u201cI haven\u2019t slept really, and I got here and the wind\u2019s been so strong today that it\u2019s blown under the canvas, and it has lifted,\u201d he says. \u201cI made a good job of making it perfect, and now I have to undo it.\u201d<\/p>\n He removes the staples while his monumental landscape of the Warrumbungles lies on the car roof racks, then re-staples it in the docks as it leans on the trolley for storing and judging.<\/p>\n Three artists have rung in to alert packing room staff they are running late. Cook is still stapling when the docks officially close at 4:37pm, just after artist Alice Xu prises her entry from behind the back seat of an Uber. The driver takes a picture of his passenger and her work in case it is hung. Cook intends to turn around and drive back to Murwillumbah in the rain. Where he will stop or sleep, he doesn\u2019t know.<\/p>\n Earlier, ceramicist Casey Chen, a finalist in the 2025 Wynne Prize, sits cross-legged on a wooden pallet on the dock floor nursing a plum vase still warm from the kiln. He is painting the final touches, applying glue to its base to attach gold leaf.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s funny. I really worked my butt off to avoid being stuck in this predicament again,\u201d says Chen. \u201cIt just takes longer than I always estimate.\u201d<\/p>\n Alexis Wildman, the gallery\u2019s senior installation technician, said there had been a noticeable increase in the number of sculptures entered in the Wynne Prize and mixed media in all three prizes. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen a lot of politicians, drag queens, TV personalities or influencers, and plenty of nudes, which is always fun.\u201d<\/p>\n Artist Camellia Morris was hung as a finalist for the Archibald in 2024 for a portrait of Blue Wiggle Anthony Field. This year, she walked in with a four-panel portrait of the Yellow and Red Wiggles, Greg Page and Murray Cook. Studio A, dedicated to empowering artists with disabilities, dropped off seven entries, including five for the Archibald, after waiting for Meagan Pelham to perfect her portrait of journalist and television presenter Jessica Rowe.<\/p>\n This year\u2019s subjects include Ahmed al Ahmed, the man who disarmed one of the shooters during the Bondi terror attack. He was painted by Sydney artist Julia Dover. Hayden Bone painted his brother Cameron McEvoy, officially the fastest swimmer in history over 50 metres.<\/p>\n Related Article \u201cCameron\u2019s journey back to Olympic gold wasn\u2019t just about speed in the water; it was reinvention, discipline, and a relentless pursuit,\u201d Bone posted on social media. \u201cA privilege to translate that journey onto canvas.\u201d<\/p>\n Jaq Grantford followed up last year\u2019s portrait of sisters Antonia and Nicole Kidman with a painting of composer Elena Kats-Chernin. Emergency doctor Mohammed Mustafa, who made two missions to Gaza hospitals during the recent war, sat for Luke Cornish.<\/p>\n Caroline Zilinsky painted Nicky and Simone Zimmermann, founders of the Zimmermann fashion label, and five-time Archibald finalist Nick Stathopoulos painted Margaret Fink, the legendary film producer now in her 90s. Stathopoulos\u2019 entry of Sudanese refugee lawyer Deng Adut<\/a> was voted People\u2019s Choice in 2016.<\/p>\n This year\u2019s finalists will be announced on April 30, and the winners on May 8.<\/p>\n The Booklist is a weekly newsletter for book lovers from Jason Steger. Get it delivered every Friday<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n![\"Artist](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2b449acd8dc0ca3c7e003e789ebe0fa200ab556b.jpeg\")
Artist Matthew Cook reflected in the work of Vicki Lee\u2019s Sulman prize entry.Steven Siewert<\/p>\n![\"Matthew](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/48d4489dd127259b0269a7ecb527cb4b15f50f5c.jpeg\")
Matthew Cook (centre) unloads his painting at the Art Gallery of NSW, just in time to enter it for the Wynne Prize.Steven Siewert<\/p>\n![\"Casey](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ca1ce43b483a7da7877e58cbfb48199c10752bd1.jpeg\")
Casey Chen finishes his Wynne Prize entry.Steven Siewert<\/p>\n![\"Richard](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1774607772_820_2b2c44fdaa8c141fabb4cad0f4584e1ef0fbd5a5.jpeg\")
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