Legendary Australian performer Tina Arena’s strength and vulnerability are celebrated in two new works at the National Portrait Gallery. Photo: National Portrait Gallery.
Taking pride of place as you walk into the National Portrait Gallery are two new black-and-white photographs of a legendary Australian performer.
In a close-up of her face, Tina Arena’s eyes are closed, her hands framing her cheek and head.
In the other, she roars to the sky. Is she belting out a ballad or celebrating a triumph, or is it a primal yell of rage? That’s up to you to decide.
“There’s not a lot of females on walls,” Arena observed at her portrait’s unveiling.
“I certainly hope that I’m one of several now that will be able to really feel … that that’s where they belong.
“Uncle Nick [Cage’s portrait] has been [in the central position] for a while, I bless him and love him, but I actually don’t think he would probably mind stepping aside … I feel that that’s where the portrait deserves to be and I’m incredibly honoured to be in that position.”
It has been 50 years since a then-eight-year-old Tina Arena first appeared as a contestant on live variety TV show Young Talent Time.
Since then, she’s released 21 albums and won a slew of national and international awards, cementing herself as one of Australia’s most successful music artists.
Arena hoped her portrait would not only inspire more women to embrace their creativity and their spirits, but also push Australian society to accept the celebration of achievement and self.
“It is an incredibly brilliant country with some unbelievable innovation on so many levels, yet we inherently have adopted this thing of ‘Oh, we’re not good enough’ or we must celebrate others as opposed to celebrating ourselves. That cultural cringe is so stifling,” she said.
“We are worthy, we do do beautiful things, and I would just love to see that validated a little bit more as opposed to this tall poppy thing which has been at the forefront of our cultural landscape for a long time.
“I am no shrinking violet and I deserve to be treated no differently to any other female who’s had success, internationally or not. We women in Australia do beautiful work and we should continue to celebrate it, we should continue to support and love one another through it genuinely.”
Her image has been captured for the National Portrait Gallery by renowned Australian fashion photographer Georges Antoni.
It’s the first time Antoni has been commissioned to provide a work for the gallery, but his portrait of the late Australian fashion designer Carla Zampatti also hangs on its walls.
He described Arena as “nothing short of an icon”.
“Given my respect and admiration for Tina, it was a daunting prospect to capture her in a way befitting her incredible legacy,” Antoni said.
“Thankfully, her gorgeous personality is as captivating as her stage presence, and within a relatively short amount of time I felt like I had known her forever.
“I hope visitors will see a portrait that captures her essence, her vulnerability, her strength, her history and her legacy … I hope they see Tina.”
National Portrait Gallery director Bree Pickering said it became apparent early on that the only way to capture Arena was through “the language of fashion and glamour”, which is why they decided on commissioning a photographer.
“Everything in this artwork matters, that it is a diptych rather than a single photograph, the position of Tina in both frames, the openness of her mouth … the Zimmerman leather suit, the tonality of the black and white, even the texture of the print,” she said.
“The gallery is immensely proud of this portrait.”
Tears shone in Arena’s eyes as she observed her portraits hanging in the gallery.
“I had always hoped I would be on these walls, because I feel that I deserve to be on these walls, I work very hard and represent my country every time that I step off these shores,” she said.
“After a contribution of 50 years, that’s how I feel … [this] is probably one of the biggest moments of my life, because what it actually symbolises and signifies is the contribution that I have made to the cultural landscape of Australia.
“I hope that my mug is the beginning of, perhaps, [recognition of] several other Europeans who have made a significant contribution to the landscape of this country.”
