A FORMER University of Ballarat student has been named a finalist in this year's Archibald Prize.
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Marcus Wills was announced last Thursday as one of 47 finalists selected from more than 800 Archibald entries.
His work, entitled El cabeceo, is an oil on board, multi-paneled altarpiece measuring 64 centimetres by 102 centimetres open.
Wills studied visual art at the University of Ballarat’s Horsham campus before completing a Bachelor of Fine Art at the Victorian College of the Arts in 1995.
The Australian artist took out the 2006 Archibald Prize for his controversial work The Paul Juraszek monolith which featured 29 images of the same person.
To coincide with last week’s announcement of the finalists, French-born Sydney artist Bruno Jean Grasswill was named the winner of the Packing Room Prize for his portrait of Aussie actor Michael Caton.
The $1500 cash prize is awarded to the best entry in the Archibald Prize as judged by the gallery staff who receive, unpack and hang the entries.
This year’s Archibald Prize will be held at the Art Gallery of New South Wales before heading to the Art Gallery of Ballarat as part of its regional tour.
Ballarat will be the prize’s only regional stop outside of New South Wales with more than 40,000 people expected to come through the gallery as part of the prize.
Archibald Prize co-ordinator Jennifer Ganske said now that the finalists had been announced, the gallery could focus on the overall layout of the prize.
“We have the sizes (of all the paintings) so for us now it’s about core infrastructure and how to hang the works,” she said.
Awarded to the best painting of a notable Australian, the $100,000 Archibald Prize is the who’s who of Australian culture, from politicians to celebrities and from sporting heroes to artists.
The overall prize winner will be announced in Sydney on Friday.
The exhibition will then be held at the Art Gallery of New South Wales until September 27 before showing at the Art Gallery of Ballarat between October 3 and November 15.
For more information and for the full list of finalists and their works, visit www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au