Painting titled "Beige Like Her Complexion" by artist Sophie Gralton (picture Sandra Lee)
The most recent episode of the Australian version of The Apprentice was manna from heaven for five little-known Aussie artists.
Aboriginal painters Tarisse and Sarrita King starred in the 7th episode and sold the most number of art works in the Art Attack contest between teams Pinnacle and Eventus. Pop artist Ben Frost, landscapist Laura Matthews and Shannon Rees were also featured.
But who were the two artists who missed out on their 15 minute of television fame?
Here’s a scoop: one is none other than successful Sydney artist Sophie Gralton who is represented by respected art dealer Charles Hewitt at whose eponymous gallery in Darlinghurst The Apprentice men staged their art show, which was the subject of the episode broadcast on November 9.
One of the toughest challenges confronting any artist is building a profile and audience so an appearance on a national television show like The Apprentice was a golden opportunity for those selected by the contestants competing to win a job with the show’s host, Mark Bouris.
And the talented King sisters, whose late father William (Bill) King Jungala was the well-known respected artist and elder from the Gurindji tribe in Katherine in the Northern Territory, should be in a position to now capitalise on their growing success.
But back to Gralton. A former textile designer and National Art School graduate (as well as a mother of three), she has been painting for more than two decades and is known for her use of textiles and various media in her large and often colourful pieces to which she gives quirky titles such as Beige Like Her Complexion when there’s not a spot of beige to be seen.
She was in the middle of finalising her most recent solo show at Hewitt’s gallery when The Apprentice was filmed, and two weeks later, it was a near sell-out with all but two of her paintings being snapped up by collectors.
While Gralton’s art didn’t make the Channel Nine reality series, the show’s cameras captured the bubbly blonde for a nanosecond in the crowd at the Pinnacle event, which flopped compared to the show staged by the women of team Eventus who sold a staggering $30,000 worth of art by Frost and the King sisters.
In comparison, the blokes managed to rack up $5000 in sales of Rees’s works.
Meanwhile, I have to admit I am quietly addicted to the local edition of The Apprentice even if Mark Bouris’s pistol-pointing hand-signal when announcing “you’re fired” is utterly ridiculous. He’s no Donald Trump.
Full disclosure: I am a fan of Gralton’s work and have six pieces of her art, the first of which I bought in 2000 is pictured here.
