Mitch Cairns (born 1984) is an Australian painter. In 2017, he won 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 ...

. His work has been collected by many prominent Australian institutions.

Life and career

Cairns was born in the

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

suburb of Camden and grew up in

Casula Casula () is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 34 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Liverpool. Casula is the first suburb immediately ...

and later

Wollongong Wollongong ( ; Dharawal: ''Woolyungah'') is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near water' or 'sound ...

. He studied at the

National Art School The National Art School (NAS) is a tertiary level art school, located in , an inner-city suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The school is an independent accredited higher education provider offering specialised study in studio arts ...

during which time he worked as a labourer for his father, a bricklayer. Cairns won the Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship in 2012. With the scholarship, Cairns undertook a residency in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. In 2017, Cairns won the

for his painting ''Agatha Gothe-Snape.'' Former Archibald winner

John Olsen John Wayne Olsen AO (born 7 June 1945) is an Australian politician, diplomat and football commissioner. He was Premier of South Australia between 28 November 1996 and 22 October 2001. He is now President of the Federal Liberal Party, Chairma ...

criticised the decision to award the prize to Cairns, describing it as "the worst decision I've ever seen." The decision was defended by artist and prize judge

Ben Quilty Ben Quilty (born 1973) is an Australian artist and social commentator, who has won a series of painting prizes: the 2014 Prudential Eye Award, 2011 Archibald Prize, and 2009 Doug Moran National Portrait Prize. He has been described as one of Au ...

who praised Cairns and the portrait. Cairns is married to fellow artist Agatha Gothe-Snape with whom he has a son.

Work

Cairns' work has been noted for its geometric character and bold colours. New Zealand artist

Tom Kreisler Tom Kreisler (1938–2002) was an Argentinian-born New Zealand artist and poet. Life Kreisler was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1938. His parents were Austrian Jewish refugees. In 1952, following the death of his father, a 13-year old Krei ...

is among his influences.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cairns, Mitch Living people 21st-century Australian painters Archibald Prize winners Archibald Prize finalists National Art School alumni 1984 births