Sallyanne Atkinson
Jun Chen
- Sitter: Sallyanne Atkinson
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Dimensions: 120 x 160 cm
- Representation: The artist represents themselves
- Category: No specific categories
2020 Highly Commended
About the artwork
Jun Chen met Sallyanne Atkinson at a friend’s place. Stating that Atkinson is “an admired woman”, he says he decided to create a “solemn picture” when painting her portrait. With this as a starting point, he chose strong, dark colours and adopted the red of her coat and the background curtains to represent dedication and grace.
About the sitter
Sallyanne Atkinson is best known as Brisbane’s first ,and so far only, female Lord Mayor. She has had an extensive career in business and government as a former Chair of Queensland Tourism, Australian Senior Trade Commissioner to Paris, and Queensland’s Special Representative in South East Asia. Currently Chair of the Museum of Brisbane, she has been chair or non-executive director of more than a dozen public companies and organisations.
About the artist
Jun Chen was born in China and migrated to Australia in 1990. Jun holds a Master of Art from Queensland University of Technology and now is Brisbane based artist. He is a seven-time Archibald Prize finalist, four-time Wynne Prize finalist and five-time Sulman Prize finalist. His work has been collected by several public galleries, including the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Parliament House, National Portrait Gallery, and the Museum of Brisbane. He is represented by Philip Bacon Gallery.
