Bud blooms on broad canvas

GEMBROOK artist Peter Biram’s portrait of the late television and film star Bud Tingwell has made it into the prestigious Victorian Salon De Refuses exhibition.
Sitting for the Biram was one of Tingwell’s final roles – he passed away on 15 May after a battle with prostate cancer. Biram said the Australian actor proved to be his most challenging subject to date.
“It was the most difficult portrait I have done, I respect him so much as an individual – I wanted to do him justice, I just wanted the portrait to be right,” he said.
The portrait is one of 51 soon to be exhibited in the Salon De Refuses, or The Hidden Faces of the Archibald, a Victorian-only event that takes the best portraits that weren’t selected for the Archibald.
Biram, an arts teacher at Gipps -TAFE, also guided three of his students to have their portraits selected for the exhibition. Tingwell is the fifth subject Biram has painted for the Archibald Prize. His previous entries were walker Nathan Deakes, mathematician Robyn Arianrhod, newsreader Mal Walden and showbiz/AFL identity Roland Rochiccioli.
Biram said it usually took between a few days to a couple of weeks to complete a portrait, but it took six months before Tingwell’s was done. Biram said Tingwell turned out to be as nice as he appeared on television and described the portrait as ‘honest’.
“I asked him how he would describe himself, Bud replied: ‘A Slob’,” he said.
“I think what he meant was, he was sick of being portrayed as a sophisticated gent. He wanted the portrait to say something different; he wanted it to have substance.”
Biram’s portrait will be on show at the Salon De Refuses at Smart artZ Gallery, 2 Alfred Place, South Melbourne, from 17 to 21 June.
This year’s show includes portraits of chef Karen Martini, Choir of Hard Knocks founder Jonathon Welch; actor Ben Mendelsohn, comedian Wil Anderson and philanthropist Dame Elisabeth Murdoch.