Ep 114: Kim Leutwyler

Many Australians may have seen Kim Leutwyler’s work without ever having set foot in a gallery. In 2019 her impressive Archibald painting of television presenter Faustina Agolley was splashed across Sydney to promote the prize.

The striking image was on a huge banner above the entrance of the gallery, on bus shelters around the city, in newspapers and even on the front cover of a magazine.

Kim is no stranger to the Archibald Prize – she’s been shortlisted in five out of the last seven years. And her sitters all have one thing in common; they are people she admires and who are making a mark in the queer community.

Using bold colour in a distinctive style, Kim involves her sitters in the process, depicting them with an exciting combination of realism and abstraction. Always innovating and moving forward, she is constantly pushing towards pure abstraction, exploring and experimenting along the way.

Kim has a fabulously positive outlook and is a regular finalist in many major Australian art prizes and has exhibited widely across Australia and the US.

This episode was recorded remotely during the 2021 Sydney lockdown.

See below for a short video from this episode.

To hear the podcast episode click ‘play’ on the above photo.

Above portrait photo courtesy of the artist

Links to things we talk about in the episode

• Kim Leutwyler’s website
• Kim Leutwyler with Nanda Hobbs
• Kim Leutwyler with 33 Contemporary
• Kim Leutwyler at Bluethumb
• Faustina Agolley
• Trixie Mattel
• Tenebrism
• Kehinde Wiley
• Marc Etherington
• Robert Rauschenberg
• Gamblin’s ‘Torrit Grey’

Click here for tickets to ‘The Artist Speaks’ series at the Art Gallery of NSW referred to in the introduction of this episode.