The founders of the Incognito Art Show,Ed and David Liston,and 2024 Archibald Prize winner Laura Jones.Credit:Dion Georgopoulos
Then last month,Jones became a household name and face when she won this year’s $100,000 Archibald Prize with a portrait of author Tim Winton.
“Winning the Archibald is a wild ride – it’s huge exposure and,as for the Incognito Art Show,hopefully it leads more people inside the door on sale day this weekend,” said Jones.
“In our first year we had 1800 works – in this,our fourth year,we have 17,900,” said Bondi-based David Liston,who studied art history,and runs a media and marketing consultancy. Artworks from 23 of this year’s Archibald,Wynne and Sulman prizes finalists,as well as works by previous Archibald winners Vincent Namatjira,Julia Gutman,Blak Douglas and Ben Quilty are up for grabs.
Incognito Art Show founders Ed and David Liston and Laura Jones in Daniel Kim’s Archibald 2024 finalist painting.
Buyers register for $100 and choose the art they want while creators remain unidentified. It’s the luck of the draw – some end up with a masterpiece from a maestro,others get something painted by a primary school-aged kid.
“The show has become so popular that we can exhibit only 20 per cent of the total number of paintings at once,” said Paddington-based Ed Liston,who works in e-commerce. “We are on the hunt for a bigger space next year.”