Finn unpacked

Auckland artist Martin Ball’s portrait of singer Neil Finn is up for Australia’s most prestigous art award, the Archibald Prize. Ball won the Archibald Packing Room prize, selected annually by backroom staff at the NSW Art Gallery in Sydney. It is one of 700 entries for the Archibald Prize, which will be announced on March 7. The winning artist said he picked Neil Finn as a subject because “he has an interesting face, I like his music and he is an iconic figure in Australasia.” Ball studied at the University of Auckland’s School of Fine Arts and completed a Masters degree there in 2001.