Who is Blak Douglas?
Blak Douglas is a famous Australian painter and photographer who has often won Archibald, Blak Douglas is famous for winning the Archibald 2022 Award for artist Karla Dickens. In this blog, we read about Blak Douglas’ career and his personal life.
Koori Artist Blak Douglas Has Won the 2022 Archibald Prize
It may be 101 years old, but the Archibald Prize is still managing to break new ground as it enters a new century. This year’s $100,000 prize has been awarded to Blak Douglas for Moby Dickens, his portrait of his friend artist Karla Dickens.
It is the first time the lucrative prize has been awarded to a First Nations artist for a portrait of a fellow First Nations artist, and only the second time an Aboriginal artist has won, following Western Aranda artist Vincent Namatjira’s 2020 win for his self-portrait with Adam Goodes.
Speaking at the Art Gallery of NSW (AGNSW), a clearly elated Douglas said, “What is momentous and monumental is that this is incredibly historic given that I’m the first Koori to paint a Koori to win the Archibald Prize. This painting represents 20 years of taking the risk of pursuing a dream [and] surrendering normalised employment.”
Douglas, a Sydney artist with Dhungatti heritage, was in Dickens’s hometown of Lismore in northern NSW when the first deluge hit in February this year, flooding the town and destroying countless homes and livelihoods.
Moby Dickens – the largest painting in the exhibition, at 3 metres by 2 metres – depicts the artist with a steely gaze, standing calf-deep in muddy floodwaters holding two leaking buckets, ominous black thunderclouds in the background.
Blak Douglas Biography, Wikipedia
Born Adam Douglas Hill, Douglas has been an Archibald Prize finalist seven times, all with portraits of Aboriginal subjects. “A very welcome trend that’s changing in this institution is that we have a history of adhering to a monoculture of male-dominated artists right up until the early noughties, and we’re rapidly seeing the changing face – artists of colour, female artists – so to win with an Aboriginal woman of colour is a double whammy,” Douglas says. “I’ve been dreaming of that since I first started painting.”
Moby Dickens also represents the first time an Archibald Prize-winning portrait has depicted a female Aboriginal sitter.
Dickens is one of nine artists who have been commissioned to create a site-specific work for the AGNSW’s significant building project, Sydney Modern, which opens in December. Speaking from Lismore, an emotional Dickens described the portrait as “a killer painting”, adding, “For you to include me in the mud, acknowledging everybody up here on Bundjalung country that has gone through so much … thank you.”
AGNSW director Dr Michael Brand referred to Moby Dickens as a “powerful portrait”. “It is a spirited likeness, captured at a hugely challenging time for Karla and her local community,” he said.
| Real Name | Blak Douglas |
| Nickname | Blak |
| Profession | Painter and Photographer |
| Wife Name | Not Known |
| Home Town | Blacktown, Western Sydney, Australia |
| Zodiac | Not Known |
| Physical Status | |
| Age | 52 years |
| Height (Approx) | 6 feet 0 inch |
| Weight (Approx) | 75 kg |
| Eye Colour | Dark Brown |
| Hair Colour | Dark Brown |
| Personal Information | |
| Date of Birth | 1970 |
| Birth Place | Blacktown, Western Sydney, Australia |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Ethnicity | Not Known |
| School Name | Private School |
| College Name | Private College |
| Qualifications | Graduated |
| Parent Background | |
| Father Name | Bob Hill |
| Mother Name | Yvonne Hill |
| Siblings | Not Known |
| Career | |
| Source Of Income | Painting and Photoshoot |
| Net Worth | $15 million (Approx) |
Blak Douglas Career
Born Adam Douglas Hill in Blacktown (1970), Western Sydney to a Koori Father and Caucasian Mother.
Originally trained in illustration & photography, observing a family of artisans, he became self-practiced in painting with a style influenced by the study of Graphic Design & devoutly politicised in relation to social justice.
Blak Douglas was a Telstra National Indigenous Art Award Final-ist in 2003-2008, Art Gallery of NSW Archibald Prize Finalist in 2015, Art Gallery of NSW Wynne Prize Finalist in 2009, Mosman Art Prize Finalist in 2017, 2016 & 2014, Parliament of NSW Aboriginal Art Prize Finalist in 2004-2009 & 2011-2015, Xstrata Emerging Artists Award Finalist in 2007 as well as numerous other art prizes.
He has exhibited extensively including at the National Indigenous Triennial at National Gallery of Australia, TARNANTHI festival in Adelaide, Utrecht Gallery in Netherlands as well as various Regional galleries and muse-ums.
Blak Douglas� work is in the collection of Aboriginal Art Museum (Utrecht), National Gallery of Australia, National Maritime Museum, National Museum of Australia, Taipei Museum, Artbank, NSW Parliament House, Western Sydney University, Bangarra Dance Company, City of Sydney Town Hall, Lane Cove, Blacktown & Liverpool City Councils.
Blak Douglas is also a classically trained Yidaki (Didgeridoo) player. He has performed extensively at various festivals, opening ceremonies and tours in-cluding Festival of the Dreaming, Australian Idol final, The Deadlys, Rugby World Cup opening ceremony, �Requiem� Peter Sculthorpe & Inter/national tours (Musica Viva) and Paul Jarman Projects.
Blak Douglas FAQ’s
Q. What is Blak Douglas’s Age?
Ans. He is 52 years old.
Q. Where is the Born of Blak Douglas?
Ans. He was born in Blacktown, Western Sydney, Australia.
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