Famous figures capture Australians’ imaginations

For more than two and half decades Sydney artist Martin Shaw has left it to imaginations across the nation to guess the identities of the subjects of his artwork, ‘Three Well Known Australians’.
Jorn Utzen, the architect of the Sydney Opera House, thought the blue figure symbolised the strength of Australia and Australians, while legendary Melbourne Cup horse trainer Bart Cummings guessed Ned Kelly.
But we’ll never know who’s guessed right, and that’s the idea.
The painting has been touring Australia continuously since 1983, working its way around the country every 10 years.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, John Howard, and former Federal Treasurer Peter Costello have been among recent guesses. Many have also thought the pink figure sitting in the middle to be Gough Whitlam.
No doubt, the guesses have changed considerably since 1982, when Shaw took less than a day to complete the painting.
Until July 26 World Square will be featuring images of the painting around the retail complex, hosting a competition whereby people can guess online or via SMS. The actual artwork will also be on show at Leichhardt Library
Visitors from each destination record their guesses, along with their names, age, occupation and address in a ‘yearbooks’, which are, perhaps, the real feature of the exhibition.
Shaw, 52, says these yearbooks create a portrait of the Australian public, which changes each time the exhibition tours the country: “It’s a passing parade of Australian images and themes.”
The yearbooks – an idea Shaw picked up from experience in market research – have enabled the artist to survey a broad range of Australians, from a Coober Pedy opal miner to a six-year-old, who thought one of the figures was his teacher.
“It’s like the torch relay leading up to the [Year] 2000 Olympic Games. Instead of the torch coming through your town or city, the painting comes through…
“Instead of clapping and applauding, you write your name in a book. Instead of 100 days, like the torch relay, it’s many generations. It just keeps on touring,” he said.
Letters featuring guesses from various Australians, many famous, will also be on display – a collection that took Shaw 15 years to compile.
Cathy Freeman wrote in, guessing more abstract: Red being “the one who isn’t wise and never cares; pink as “the one who’s very wise and always cares; and the green figure symbolising “the one who wants to be wise and really cares.”
Shaw hopes the painting will keep on touring long after he passes on, but the real identities of the figures he will take with him to the grave.