A mysterious painting that has been touring Australia since 1983 is currently on show in Armadale, and its artist is asking visitors to the exhibition to identify its subjects.
Do you know who the Three Well Known Australians are?
The painting depicts three figures against a yellow background. One to the left is stocky, blue and headless; a red figure in the centre appears to be sitting or crouching, and a green figure holding an umbrella makes up the trio.
Since its inception, artist Martin Shaw, based in Sydney, has posed a challenge to audiences to identify the figures in the portrait and record their responses in ‘yearbooks’ provided alongside the exhibition.
The yearbooks, which date back to 1983, along with letters received from prominent Australian public figures, provide a yearly snapshot of Australians’ responses to the challenge.
“When people record their opinions in the book along with others it becomes a portrait of Australia,” Mr Shaw said.
“What people write in the 1980s is going to be different to what they write now.
“I get Prime Ministers and State Premiers to write to me – the letters are like a time-warp – when people look at them in 100 years’ time they might think, ‘who are these people?’ and get the impetus to research who these people are.
“Originally when I did the painting I toured it with other work, but the painting toured alone from 1985 to 1992.
“From then to 2009 I was running my own private call centre, ringing people across Australia and overseas asking people to have a guess.
“In 2016 we had the Olympic Games and commentators were talking about the torch relay – this is the same thing, only instead of a torch it’s a painting and instead of going once around Australia it goes continuously around Australia for many generations.”
Despite probing questions over decades, Mr Shaw has refused to reveal the identities, keeping the mystery alive.
“A few have been on the right track, but I can’t tell you if anyone has got the three figures right.
“I’m like a magician, once you know the trick it falls flat.”
The Three Well Known Australians exhibition is now on at the Armadale Library until May 26.
For more information call 9394 5125.
