David Wenham Packer Prize-winning portrait set in Newtown’s South End Cafe

Newtown’s South End Cafe could become the next Instagram hotspot after a portrait of actor David Wenham picked up the 2019 Archibald Packing Room Prize.

• Balmain needs its own identity
• What the quack! Duck rescue

Newtown’s South End Cafe could become the next Instagram hotspot after a portrait of actor David Wenham picked up the 2019 Archibald Packing Room Prize.

Owner Anthony Shalala said Wenham, who grew up in nearby Marrickville, and the production crew spent almost a whole day in the King St cafe and enjoyed coffee and food from the menu that boasts favourites like pea and halloumi pancakes and a brekkie wrap with eggs, hash brown, bacon, aoli spinach and BBQ sauce.

Art Gallery of NSW head packer, Brett Cuthbertson and Perth artist Tessa MacKay and her Packing Room prize-winning hyperreal portrait of renowned actor and producer David Wenham, titled Through the looking glass. Picture: Peter Rae

“They were here for nearly the whole day, they had a lot of lights,” Mr Shalala, who has operated the cafe for eight years, said.

“They just called up and said could they come in and I said: ‘Yes go for it’.”

The prize-winning portrait features Wenham looking out the window of the South End Cafe and when asked if he expected demand for the “Wenham window seat” now, with Instagrammers recreating the scene, Mr Shalala said: “I hope so”.

Art Gallery of NSW head packer Brett Cuthbertson and his packing room team chose to award the Archibald Packing Room Prize to the Wenham portrait, titled Through the looking glass by West Australian hyperreal artist Tessa MacKay.

The Packing Room prize-winning hyperreal portrait Through the looking glass.

Wenham said he felt privileged to sit for MacKay who he met through her husband, a writer/director.

“Tess’s portraits are each carefully considered and not only display her supreme technical facility but also offer an insight into what fascinates or intrigues her about the subject,” Wenham said.

Owner of South End Cafe Anthony Shalala at his cafe that was the location for the Archibald Packing Room Prize portrait of David Wenham by Tessa MacKay. Picture: Jordan Shields

“Aware of my fondness for sitting, people watching and general day dreaming, Tess had a very clear vision of what the look, feel and purpose of the portrait should be.

“Once the location for the portrait was locked in I couldn’t really fathom how on earth Tess was going to pull the painting off. Windows within windows, multiple reflections and numerous light sources added a degree of technical difficulty that was beyond my brain processing capacity.”

Artist Adam Cullen in front of his portrait painting of actor David Wenham (standing in the background) that won the 2000 Archibald Prize

Wenham was the subject of Jordan Richardson’s portrait David Wenham and hat in 2018 and Adam Cullen’s Archibald Prize-winning Portrait of David Wenham in 2000.

MacKay, a newcomer finalist, said: “David’s thoughtful gaze in the middle of the work is a kind of anchor”.

“The portrait is about stepping into David’s world,” she said.

“I like to think that his somewhat pensive eyes, lost in thought, are another kind of ‘looking glass’ that we’re peering into.

“Sydney had to be part of David’s portrait, but I wanted to nestle David within a figurative essence of Sydney.

“Painting the streetscape reflections merging into the cafe interior meant that I could depict Sydney in a more interesting and playful way and it gave me the space to capture a multi-layered and complex urban world.”

Finalists in Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes will be on show at the Art Gallery of NSW from May 11 to September 8.