Artist Guy Maestri has taken out the prestigious Archibald Prize with his portrait of blind Aboriginal singer Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunipingu.
The work beat 708 entries and 39 finalists to take the $50,000 prize.
Also on the shortlist were portraits of the Underbelly actor Gyton Grantley, the artist Ken Done and the Greens senator Bob Brown.
Megan Roodenrys painted a triple portrait of the disgraced former West Coast Eagle Ben Cousins battling through a sleepless night. Given the rule that states Archibald portraits should show "some man or woman distinguished in Art, Letters, Science or Politics", it is difficult to see how Cousins qualifies.
Some finalists challenge traditional notions of portraiture. In his self portrait Ars longa, vita brevis, Michael Zavros has painted a pair of sunglasses, some perfume bottles and two shoes, arranged on the canvas to resemble a skull.
In Anthony Bennett's self portrait, the artist's head is a tiny fragment in an indoor bathroom scene. The work's rather long-winded title is self-portrait in the bathroom discussing beauty, bukowski and brett whiteley with my ex, now a stripper, who likes to dress as wonder woman.
Judged by the gallery's board of trustees rather than art experts, the prize and a reputation for populism. When the exhibition opens tomorrow it is expected to draw huge crowds.
The winners of the $25,000 Wynne Prize for landscape painting or figure sculpture, and the $20,000 Sulman Prize for subject/genre painting or mural work were also announced today.
