Luke Cornish (born 1979) is an Australian stencil artist, also known as E.L.K. In 2012 Cornish became the first stencil artist to become a finalist in the

Archibald Prize The Archibald Prize is an Australian portraiture art prize for painting, generally seen as the most prestigious portrait prize in Australia. It was first awarded in 1921 after the receipt of a bequest from J. F. Archibald, J. F. Archib ...

. He was also awarded the Holding Redlich People's Choice Award at the Archibald Prize

Salon des Refusés The Salon des Refusés, French for "exhibition of rejects" (), is generally known as an exhibition of works rejected by the jury of the official Paris Salon, but the term is most famously used to refer to the Salon des Refusés of 1863. Today, ...

in 2017, the Churchill Fellowship in 2013 and was a finalist in the Sulman prize in the same year. In 2011, he was a finalist in the Metro Art Prize, won the Australian Stencil Art prize in 2010, and in 2008 he won the most popular stencil at Melbourne Stencil Festival. In 2012, Cornish's short film, 'Me- We', which documented the process and construction of his portrait of Father Bob Maguire for entry into the 2012 Archibald Prize, was shortlisted in the

Tropfest Tropfest is the world's largest short film festival. It has also become known as the world's first global film festival. Founded by actor/director John Polson, Tropfest began in 1993 as a screening for 200 people at the 'Tropicana Caffe' in ...

Awards Film Festival. Other notable achievements include being selected for 2012's Project 5 charity auction, a large involvement in 2011's Outpost Project. Cornish has exhibited his work in capital and regional cities in Australia, and in major international cultural centres, including Paris, London, Rome, Los Angeles and Amsterdam.

Career

Growing up in

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

, Cornish worked as a sign writer and landscape designer before taking up stencil art as a hobby in the early-2000s. All of his work is done by hand through cutting out sheets of recycled

acetate An acetate is a salt formed by the combination of acetic acid with a base (e.g. alkaline, earthy, metallic, nonmetallic, or radical base). "Acetate" also describes the conjugate base or ion (specifically, the negatively charged ion called ...

with a scalpel. Some of Cornish's stencils contain over 100 layers and up to 243 colours. The subject of his 2012 Archibald final work, Father Bob Maguire, contains over 30 layers and the work was influenced by Cornish's association of Maguire with his own grandfather. Being an atheist, religious iconography occurs frequently in his work. Cornish's portrait of the controversial Catholic priest achieved a new auction record for a work by an Australian street artist selling for A$34,160 during the Bonhams Australia Important Australian Art auction in late 2013. Cornish has made multiple visits to Syria, Lebanon and Iran. In early 2017 he co-founded the 'For Syrias Children' Charity organisation, which works in conjunction with Non-Government Organisations on the ground in Syria, raising funds for Syrian children affected by conflict. In 2017 Cornish curated an urban art auction to raise funds for the children of Syria. Cornish currently lives and works in Sydney. His work is held in public and private collections around the world, most notably his portrait of former Australian Prime Minister

Bob Hawke Robert James Lee Hawke (9 December 1929 – 16 May 2019) was an Australian politician and trade unionist who served as the 23rd prime minister of Australia from 1983 to 1991. He held office as the Australian Labor Party, leader of the La ...

, which was acquired by the National Portrait Gallery of Australia in 2013.

Exhibition history (solo shows)

*2018: No place like home, Tuggeranong art centre, Canberra *2017: Zero to the left, Metro Gallery, Melbourne *2017: Road to Damascus, Nanda\Hobbs Contemporary, Sydney *2016: Vanishing Point, Nanda\Hobbs Contemporary, Sydney *2016: Concrete Jungle, Metro Gallery, Melbourne *2014: Louder than words, Stolen Space, London *2014: Clusterfuck, Metro Gallery, Melbourne *2014: Sex & Death, w/ Will Coles, Art Equity, Sydney *2013: Before Afghanistan, Art Equity, Sydney *2012: Not with it..., Metro Gallery, Melbourne *2011: Look what you made me do...., Brunswick Street Gallery, Melbourne *2011: This is why we can't have nice things..., Oh really Gallery, Newtown, Sydney *2010: How you like me now Bitch?, Front Gallery, Canberra

Awards and collections

*2024: Gallipoli Art Prize, winner *2019: Archibald Prize, Finalist *2018: S alon de Refusés, SH Ervine Gallery, Sydney *2017: Salon de Refusés, SH Ervine Gallery, Sydney (Winner: Holding Redlich People's Choice Award) *2016:

Australian War Memorial The Australian War Memorial (AWM) is a national war memorial, war museum, museum and archive dedicated to all Australians who died as a result of war, including peacekeeping duties. The AWM is located in Campbell, Australian Capital Territory, C ...

, Canberra (acquisition) *2015: Gold Coast Art Gallery, QLD (acquisition) *2014: Bond University Collection, QLD *2014: Corrigan Collection *2013:

Churchill Fellowship Winston Churchill Memorial Trusts (WCMT) are three independent but related living memorials to Sir Winston Churchill, based in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. They exist for the purpose of administering Churchill Fellowships, a ...

, Awardee *2013: National Portrait Gallery, Canberra (acquisition) *2013:

Sulman prize The Sir John Sulman Prize is one of Australia's longest-running art prizes, having been established in 1936. It is now held concurrently with the Archibald Prize, Australia's best-known art prize, and also with the Wynne Prize, at the Art Galler ...

, Finalist *2012: Moran Portrait prize, semi-finalist *2012: Archibald prize, Finalist *2012:

, shortlisted *2011: Metro Art Prize, Finalist *2010: Australian Stencil Art Prize, Winner *2009: Ballarat Gallery of Modern Art (acquisition) *2009: Australian Stencil art prize, Runner up *2008: Melbourne Stencil Festival, People's choice

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cornish, Luke 1979 births Australian graffiti artists Living people Archibald Prize Salon des Refusés People's Choice Award winners Archibald Prize Salon des Refusés Archibald Prize finalists Artists from the Australian Capital Territory