The Art Gallery of New South Wales has announced the winner of the 2025 Packing Room Prize. This year’s $3,000 award goes to Abdul Abdullah, for their portrait of the artist Jason Phu, titled No Mountain High Enough. The painting — which depicts Phu astride a horse in a surreal, almost cinematic pose — was selected by a panel of gallery staff responsible for receiving and handling this year’s Archibald Prize entries.
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On receiving the prize, Abdullah expressed his excitement: "Jason is my best friend. We talk on the phone every day, he was the best man at my wedding, and we have travelled together. I’ve painted him as I see him, as a ceaseless adventurer who at any one time is involved in a dozen conversations on a dozen different platforms, bringing his unique perspective to one flummoxed friend or another."
The announcement comes ahead of the full reveal of finalists for the 2025 Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes, three of Australia's most prestigious art awards.
Now in its 34th year, the Packing Room Prize is unique in that it’s judged not by curators or critics, but by the Gallery’s behind-the-scenes team. This year, the three-member panel included Timothy Dale, Monica Rudhar and Alexis Wildman. They're part of the 40-strong crew who process hundreds of entries submitted annually for the Archibald.
Abdullah’s winning portrait was selected from 57 Archibald finalists. Interestingly, Jason Phu is also among the 2025 finalists himself — with a separate portrait of actor Hugo Weaving. This self-reflexive trend echoes across this year’s Archibald: of the 57 finalists, a dozen are self-portraits and 22 are of other artists. Just over a third are first-time finalists.
This year’s lineup leans artist-heavy, with fewer celebrities than usual — though there are still familiar faces in the mix. Sitters include Nicole Kidman and her sister Antonia, Miranda Otto, Boy Swallows Universe breakout Felix Cameron, broadcaster Jackie O, singer Katie Noonan, activist Grace Tame, Costa Georgiadis, and comedian Aaron Chen.
Political portraits are notably sparse, though local government is acknowledged via Sydney councillor Yvonne Weldon, painted in Luke Cornish and Christophe Domergue’s evocative Blood, Sweat and Tears.
The finalists for the 2025 Wynne Prize include landscapes and sculptures that span remote country and cultural memory. Among them are works by artists such as Nyunmiti Burton, Benjamin Aitken, Tony Albert, and Sally Scales.
In the Sulman Prize, highlights include genre scenes and symbolic narratives from artists like Abdul-Rahman Abdullah, Clara Adolphs, and Deborah Kelly, whose works examine identity, time, and myth.
You can view more information on this year's finalsists here.
All three exhibitions — Archibald, Wynne and Sulman — will be on display at the Art Gallery of New South Wales from 10 May to 17 August 2025. The Archibald finalists will then tour regional New South Wales and Victoria, visiting Geelong, Gosford, Muswellbrook, Mudgee, Shoalhaven and Coffs Harbour through to mid-2026.
About the prizes
The Archibald Prize offers $100,000 for the best portrait, painted from life, of a person "distinguished in art, letters, science or politics." The Wynne Prize, worth $50,000, is awarded to the best landscape painting of Australian scenery or figurative sculpture. The Sulman Prize awards $40,000 to the best subject, genre or mural painting.
The winners of the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes will be announced on Friday 9 May , with the exhibition at the Art Gallery of New South Wales running thereafter. For the complete list of finalists and to purchase tickets, visit the Art Gallery of NSW’s website.
Feature image via Unsplash.
