Melbourne artist Vincent Fantauzzo has
painted his girlfriend actress Asher Keddie for the Archibald Prize / Pic:
Jason Edwards Source:
The Daily Telegraph
Joel Christie, The Daily Telegraph, reports
It’s a look of chaos but contentment - the
ease of coming home from an awful day to the arms of the one you love.
After months of struggling for inspiration, Vincent Fantauzzo, the
artist boyfriend of actress Asher Keddie, only needed to watch her walk in the
door one night to realise how he would paint her for the Archibald Prize.
"It had been a fairly hectic day for Asher and she had this
glazed-eye look but there were other looks of comfort and confidence and
affection too," Fantauzzo told Confidential yesterday.
"We work so hard and life moves so quickly and then all of a sudden
that chaos can just disappear (when we're together). We have moments like that
quite a lot."
Fantauzzo, who is entering his ninth picture in the Archibalds, found
infamy with a dark portrait of Heath Ledger showing three alter egos of the
troubled actor, which became public just after Ledger's tragic death in
2008."A lot of my images have been quite dramatic and I guess this one
(Asher) is about where we're at right now," he said.
"I wanted it to be honest and not over-complicated."
Offspring star Keddie, who met Fantauzzo about a year ago through mutual
friend Matt Moran, admitted to being breathless when she saw the end result.
"It's a celebration for us, in a way," she said.
"There's a lot of loveliness in our lives at the moment and this
was something we could enjoy doing together."
Fantauzzo, who took six weeks to complete the painting, said it was the
easiest work he has done.
"I just loved doing it every day," he said.
While the Archibald finalists won't be announced until next Thursday,
Fantauzzo knows what he could do with the $75,000 prize money.
"I would take Asher on a really good holiday," he said.
The Archibald winner will be revealed on March 22.
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