Artist drawn to inspiring people
Painting goes on show among some great work across the ditch
It has been a busy time for Taupo¯ artist Mark Rutledge, who has had exciting opportunities to exhibit his labours of love. Mark’s painted portrait of Tame Iti is proudly on display in Sydney in the Archibald Prize’s Salon des Refuse´s exhibition.
He says despite his piece not being selected for the Archibald Prize finalist exhibition, it was special to have his work displayed in Australia in the Salon des Refuse´s, and he flew over with family for the occasion and to see it exhibited there.
“It was pretty special, and my portrait is among some great work.”
The Archibald Prize is a prestigious art prize in Australia for portraiture.
Mark says you could call his paintings realism or hyper-realism, and that Tame Iti was a fantastic subject and an interesting man to paint.
The portrait is a close-up of Tame Iti’s face and his tattoos.
Mark also has a portrait of singer Booga Beazley from rock band Head Like A Hole in the finalist exhibition of the Adam Portraiture Award 2022.
The Adam Portraiture Award is a biennial competition for painted portraits of New Zealanders, by New Zealanders.
From 351 entries, judges Linda Tyler and Karl Maughan selected 45 works for this year’s finalists exhibition.
The works are on display at the New Zealand Portrait Gallery Te Pu¯kenga Whakaata in Wellington.
“The majority of my subjects over the last 10 years have been rock’n’roll musicians and people that inspire me, and Booga is a great, inspirational dude.
“I was at one of his concerts and came up with the idea to do a portrait.
“I talked to him after the concert and we set the photo up straight after the show; in his leather pants, all sweaty. I wanted to capitalise on that rock’n’roll hardship.”
This was Mark’s third time having work in the Adam Portraiture Award, and he also received People’s Choice in 2010.
“It’s a great thing to be part of in terms of that it’s supporting New Zealand art and supporting portraiture,”
he says.
“It gives artists a chance to be exhibited, get their work out there, and be around other great artists.”
He says being part of the Salon des Refuse´s was amazing for the same reasons but on a larger scale, getting his painting over to and exhibited in Australia.
Mark says he has been creating and loving art since as far back as his memory goes.
“I used to do just drawing, and then
in school started painting. I also now work full-time running my own masonry, called Black Wolf Masonry.”
He says it can be hard to find time around full-time work and other commitments to paint.
“It’s a labour of love in that regard . . . it provides great satisfaction and that’s why I only like to paint people who inspire me. I want to spend that time doing what I love to do, and painting musicians or subjects that have meaning to me.”