Archibald Artist Talk: Kathrin Longhurst

This talk takes place in the Archibald Prize 2021 exhibition. Tickets are essential. Limited tickets subject to availability will be available on the night over the counter.

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Kate Ceberano has recorded 28 albums over 40 years, hitting the Top 10 charts across five decades, and won three ARIA awards. In 2014 she was the first woman inducted into the Australian Songwriters Hall of Fame.

‘I first spoke to Kate in early 2020 about collaborating on a portrait,’ says Kathrin Longhurst, a Sydney-based artist. ‘She had seen my work at the home of mutual friends, and asked if I was interested in painting her next album cover. We attempted to get together several times, but lockdowns and border closures lead to every trip being cancelled.

‘In 2020, the pandemic decimated the entertainment industry. The extended lockdown in Melbourne had devastating consequences for Kate and many of her fellow performers. But it ended up being an enormous year of growth and personal breakthroughs for her, culminating in her decision to move her family to Sydney to chase the work.

‘This is when we finally met. Although the album cover deadline had expired, we decided to paint the portrait to create a record of Kate at this important moment in her life, and as a legacy for her daughter.’

Longhurst was born in East Berlin, Germany, in 1971 and moved to Australia in 2000. This is her second time as an Archibald finalist.

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An Art Gallery of New South Wales touring exhibition.

Image: Winner Packing Room Prize 2021, Kathrin Longhurst, Kate, 2021 © the artist