My radical Archibald Prize work and Dear Judges

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For two months I carried a giant piece of paper in a backpack and scrawled on it as I felt moved to.

That was my Archibald Prize work for 2016.

Why?

Well, I'm no Rembrandt nor do I want to be. I am, however a storyteller and imagineer and inventor.

I won't win the art world’s equivalent of a gladiatorial battle with strength. I do stand a chance taking a distinct approach. 

I wanted to be authentic and noticeable and win with big ideas.

Here are a few:

Be noticeable by using paper, and folded paper no less. Writing also helps because a gazer’s mind wants to read words particularly in a sea of oiled canvas. I also used ink. That's unusual.

Thanks for FrameShop.com.au I have the most magnificent frame, custom made to fit my 141cm X 141cm paper, which leads me to…

Be honest with an honest title. A super honest title.
Be the first artwork with a sponsor and a website on it and a sponsor in its title.
Can a car be a person? Maybe.
Capture unknown people who might fit the criteria of ‘distinguished in arts, science or politics’ somehow (like 10 years from now when the product they make changes your life and mine).
Capture Fitzy from Nova FM. He's pretty famous and I spotted him a few weeks ago.
Tell tales. They have a way of floating above the moats of human beings minds to pierce a heart.

 Sprinkle myself in it (think hands and a hidden self-portrait).

Can a giant shoe be a person? Maybe.

Finish with an honest note to the judges:
Dear Archibald Prize Judges,
I imagine looking at over 800 artworks isn't easy going so I wanted to help you out by being noticeable with a giant handwritten note!
Do you remember me? (Ben and Gretel I saw you at the opening night last year - it was dazzling). 
I entered this Prize first as a 19 year old. I now have a wonderful wife, three children and white Camry and still want to change the world by making things. 
Perhaps you can consider one thing for me? 
Who says an Archibald winner can't tell tales, use ink and be super honest? (see my title over there :)
Anyway, thanks for noticing me for a moment. Hope to see you around.
Oscar

 

Will I win? Maybe. If I do it will changed the Archibald Prize forever. If I don't, well, I captured human minds for a moment. And I can always cut my artwork and sell it for parts…

As always, if you'd like to contact me I'd love to hear from you.

Oscar

P.S - I'd love to send you my updates, just go here.

You can see my Archibald Journey here and my other creations and art here.

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The super honest title for my Archibald Prize work (with thanks to FrameShop.com.au)

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Art can be like a backdrop for a stage play - it looks real but don't look behind it. Or like the Wizard of Oz behind the theatrical curtain that hides what is real.

Any artist who has rubbed out a pencil line or reworked paint has likewise been hiding something.

An artwork’s title can also be less than forthcoming either because it's vague or it wants you to think something that isn't quite true.

So I took the opposite approach for my Archibald Prize entry which was delivered last Friday to the Art Gallery Of NSW - and pulled the throttle to ‘super honest’ with my title. It was probably the longest in Archibald history and the first to feature a sponsor.

I'll show you the complete work shortly and explain it but in the meantime here is the most honest (and longest) title for an Archibald Prize work ever (with thanks to FrameShop.com.au):

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I have a secret: I've carried my Archibald Prize entry in a backpack for two months.

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I have a secret to share. For the past two months I've carried around a giant 142cm X 142cm piece of paper in a backpack and scribbled as I've felt so moved to. This is my Archibald Prize entry. 

Why? Paper is a rarely used for the Archibald but it's also accessible (can you carry a giant canvas without passersby crossing the street believing you to be crazy, or secretly embellishing it in a cafe?).

This might make mine the most travelled artwork in the Archibald this year.

You see, my work is a giant doodle to let people into my mind - celebrating, not hiding the process like an airbrushed magazine.

I of course I’ll need a frame to add a lustre to my work. To that I’ll turn to frameshop.com.au (that part is even more radical!).

P.S - I'd love to send you my updates, just go here.

You can see my Archibald Journey here and my other creations and art here.

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Should I paint a Nike shoe for the Archibald Prize? Bold idea #4 to win

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What is a person?

It sounds simple but quickly becomes difficult to answer (like an onion with layers booby trapped to thwart anyone who tries to peel it).

If you believe the mood of our age, inanimate objects become personal and alive when a brand is stitched to it. Take a Nike shoes for example.

Nike is energetic, inspiring, aspiring, perspiring and a friend to the outcast dreamer. Nameless objects are cold and unfeeling but engraved with a logo and moniker they become as real as you and I. What better way to capture a distinguished person for 2016 than to paint a shoe that is really a person we all know named ‘Nike’?

What do you, reader of my thoughts? Should I paint a Nike shoe?

P.S - I'd love to send you my updates, just go here.

You can see my Archibald Journey here and my other creations and art here.

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Should I paint a stranger for the Archibald Prize? Bold idea #3 to win

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In the future, 10 years from today, the work of a lone stranger, persevering feverishly by candlelit as a social outcast will bring to the world a device that we will all own in a way we can't possibly imagine today.

That distinguished person is a stranger in our midst.

What if I painted that distinguished stranger who has changed the course of history but we don't realise it yet?

It's a statement about the future being created underneath our noses and an encouragement to encourage others and seed your imagination. Think of the scientists Alfred Wegener or Gregor Johann Mendel, or reclusive 20th century artist Henry Darger or the 19th century poet Emily Dickinson. Their distinguishment was known only in hindsight. My painting would be a note to the future's distinguished. Maybe one of them is reading this now?

To you - the reader of my thoughts - should I paint a stranger? 

P.S - I'd love to send you my updates, just go here.

You can see my Archibald Journey here and my other creations and art here.

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Should I paint a car for the Archibald Prize? Bold idea #2 to win

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What is the quintessence of a person and how can it be captured like an imp, bottled and poured onto a painting surface?

A black turtle neck says 'Steve Jobs', harem pants say 'M.C Hammer' and a bejewelled white glove says Michael Jackson. Can a car do the same, I wonder?

If I painted a portrait of someone as a car - the symbol of modern life - it would surely be radical indeed. If so, what would this orange one say?  

To you - the reader of my thoughts - should I and who would it be? 

P.S - I'd love to send you my updates, just go here.

You can see my Archibald Journey here and my other creations and art here.

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Should I paint a homeless man for the Archibald Prize? Bold idea #1 to win

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Last time I shared what I learnt about trying to win the Archibald Prize.

I need to stand out amongst the 900 other works with a big, bold idea lest I be trampled underfoot like autumn leaves.

My first idea is this: to paint one of the homeless men I see on George Street in Sydney.

Why? I'm moved with compassion as I walk past them each day and wonder how they got there. No young boy envisions that future.

But there is a problem. The Archibald Prize is: for ‘the best portrait 'preferentially of some man or woman distinguished in art, letters, science or politics, painted by any artist resident in Australasia during the 12 months preceding’.

Is a homeless man distinguished (or more likely unnoticed)? I wonder whether they were once distinguished or in an alternate history if they would be renowned for an invention we all now carry. Or maybe they are distinguished because they cause others, like me, to think more deeply about the fragility of life.

It would be a radical outcome to win (and an unnoticed person has never been the winner’s subject).

To you - the reader of my thoughts - what do you think? Should I paint a homeless man? 

P.S - I'd love to send you my updates, just go here.

You can see my Archibald Journey here and my other creations and art here.

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Frequently Asked Questions
What Others Are Asking...

These are the most common questions asked of Oscar.

Products

Why are your products so special?

Many products (including wall art and t-shirts) are made by combining stock art (you know, images you can buy on used on bad advertisements) to make pretty patterns that don't mean a lot.

Oscar’s works are original and interesting - all designed and crafted using his own hands onto real paper with his imagination, real pencils and ink. That’s what makes each piece like nothing else in the world.

What are the prints made of? Why are they such quality?

Each piece is printed onto the finest museum grade paper. Oscar chooses the Hahnemuhle brand because it feels and looks superb (if you’re interested it’s acid free and calcium carbonate buffered) plus it can last longer than 100 years!

The inking process is called giclée printing and is a high-quality way of getting ink onto the best paper.

id="size" Which size is right for me? A few helpful things to consider:

A4 is small and good for a small desk, kitchen or small wall like a corner.

A3 is medium and good for a larger desk, larger kitchen or moderate sized wall.

A2 a larger and really nice on a wall, behind a bed or desk, adorning a hallway or thoroughfare.

A1 a very large and a wonderful way to make an impact in a room, office, reception, thoroughfare or atrium. Pow.

Dimensions

A4 210 x 297 mm | 8.3 x 11.7 in
A3 297 x 420 mm | 11.7 x 16.5 in
A2 420 x 594 mm | 16.5 x 23.4 in
A1 594 x 841 mm | 23.4 x 33.1 in

Buying

Do you offer free worldwide shipping?

Oscar offers free shipping to anywhere in the world. The farthest flung so far is the Netherlands, United States and England but he’d love to go even further! (perhaps you’re from Nepal or Antarctica maybe?)

How can Oscar offer free shipping?

Well, Oscar loves free shipping and it’s worth what it costs him for radically happy customers!

Can I return and get a refund if I’m not 100% happy?

Yes! Of course. Oscar wants you to be radically happy and satisfied (that’s good business isn’t it? But also good humanness...). We’re convinced you will be! But if for whatever reason you’re not super happy please contact us and we’ll arrange a full refund as soon as humanly possible.

Oscar

Oscar is Award-Winning?

Yes. He’s entered and won art prizes including for a piece about a magical bus and its passengers and a 22 page piece Moleskin about a boy who woke up with a strange knowing one day. He was also featured in prominent publications for his work and journey to one of the world’s largest portrait prizes, The Archibald Prize.

But now he prefers to imagine and make to change the world.

What is Oscar’s life Mission?

Oscar mission is to change the world with a pencil, pens and beautiful paper so that his imaginative tales and creations can be found in rooms, offices, buses and wall facades in town and cities large and small - so people awe at the ordinary.

A billion people on earth would be nice :) A beloved collection of children’s books too (that Roald Dahl would be proud of). Oh, and a film trilogy...

But I’d love to start (if you don’t mind) with you today!

● Have another questions? Contact Oscar here and he'd love to answer it!

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