The 2015 Bald Archy exhibition will open at TAFE’s Gallery 43, presented by the committee of the Wagga Women’s Health Centre, who will benefit from the admission proceeds.

This year’s popular comic portrait exhibition, which was launched in the National Capital a week ago, has created a frenzy of excitement among Canberrans, “already breaking attendance records at the Watson Arts Centre, where queues of curious patrons have been impatientally forming to view the 47 artworks that are finalists hoping to win the $10,000 prize,” event creator Peter Batey said.

But it’s not just Canberra that is reacting so dramatically. “Extensive enthusiastic media coverage saturated the nation following the opening of the show, resulting in an unprecedented reaction in both social media and direct electronic mail from every state,” Mr Batey said. 

“Even publications and commenators, who for years have snobbishly turned up their noses with their ‘it’s not art’ comments, have changed their attitudes.”

Mr Batey believes that both this change of face and surge of public approval is due to the recent tragic attack on freedom of expression in Paris.

Suddenly the art of the caricaturist and creator of visual comic satire has a place in society and therefore has become a little more important than the community has previously allowed.

Significantly, there is a small work in the Bald Archy show, entitiled When Charlie Met Ahmed, which acknowledges the freedom of expression our Australian artists enjoy. It is subtitled Je Suis Charlie – Je suis Bald Archy.

The 2015 competition received a wide and varied collection of entries depicting a wide selection of celebrities. Most popular is Jacquie Lambie as anticipated, followed by Molly Meldrum, Joe Hockey, James Packer, Bronwyn Bishop, Annabel Crabbe, Russell Crowe and many more. The 2015 $10,000 prize will be announced in Sydney on July 24.

Bald Archy

What: Bald Archy Prize 2015

Where: Gallery 43, Wagga TAFE

When: August 28 to September 28, daily 10am to 4pm