John Wayne Parr - Amid the Brutal
Joel Rea
- Sitter: John Wayne Parr
- Medium: Oil on Canvas
- Dimensions: 43 x 55 cm
- Representation: The artist represents themselves
2019 People's Choice Award
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About the artist
Joel Rea is an artist working primarily with oils on canvas. Born in England, his family moved to the Gold Coast, when he was two years old. Rea’s paintings combine features of several contemporary painting genres including photorealism, surrealism and hyper-realism and integrate philosophies of the sublime in which evoking aesthetics are lead by the virtue of technical painting. Rea’s paintings have been exhibited in many countries world wide and have been hung in prestigious art awards throughout Australia, several of which he has won or been highly commended. Rea is a Queensland College of Art graduate, and subsequently worked as an artist in the Brisbane inner city arts community, contributing to an artists run gallery and building his painting practice.
About the sitter
John Wayne Parr is a 10-time World Champion Muay Thai kick boxer and will next fight Anthony Mundine in a traditional boxing bout November 2019. Parr began martial arts at the age of 6 in Brisbane whilst his mother and father were horse trainers at the Eagle Farm Racecourse. His childhood home in Hendra backed onto the the Racecourse, a young Parr worked alongside his parents assisting with the horses and stables whilst also attending Hendra State School and Hendra High School. Parr is currently an active martial artist and head trainer at his own world renowned Muay Thai kick boxing gym Boonchu on The Gold Coast, Queensland.
Judge's Notes
Contemporary portraiture is a popular genre, so it is fitting that visitors to the Finalists Exhibition, both at Brisbane Powerhouse, and online, decide this award.
The Courier-Mail People’s Choice Award allows people to have a conversation about contemporary portraiture, and express an opinion about which of the 100 artworks speaks to them.
The criteria can be personal and subjective. It might be the power or the personality of the sitter, the skill of the artist, the boldness or experimentation of the artwork, or none of the above.
You may agree with the majority, or you may argue against it. It’s your choice. The People’s Choice.
What’s important is that the winner is decided by the audience, who have voted in their thousands, for the first, ever, Brisbane Portrait Prize Courier-Mail People’s Choice Award.
