Writer, broadcaster and cultural commentator Benjamin Law explores contemporary portraiture and the press. What makes a portrait good, bad or worthy of being on a Gallery wall? Who gets to be captured? And when, if ever, is likeness a good metric for evaluating a portrait’s success? In this year’s Andrew Sayers Memorial Lecture Law explores the way a centuries old tradition can still drive a 24-hour news cycle and the impact of politics, power and social media on the way we interpret what we see. Law will discuss his own experiences being a sitter for a popular art prize and argue that it can be the conversation that happens around the artwork that tells us the most about the times we live in.
The evening will begin at 6:00pm with a welcome drink, with formal proceedings commencing at 6:30pm. Benjamin’s lecture will conclude with an opportunity for audience Q&A.
The lecture will be livestreamed from 6:30pm. If you can’t join us in person, tune in from the comfort of your own home with a Virtual Connection ticket.
Benjamin Law is an Australian writer and broadcaster whose work focuses on topics such as culture, diversity and equality. He’s the author of The Family Law (2010), Gaysia (2012), the Quarterly Essay Moral Panic 101 (2017) and editor of Growing Up Queer in Australia (2019). He co-wrote the comedy book Shit Asian Mothers Say (2014) with his sister Michelle Law, and the sex/relationships advice book Law School (2017) with his mum Jenny.
Every week, Benjamin co-hosts ABC Radio National’s weekly pop culture show Stop Everything and interviews public figures for the Sydney Morning Herald’s Good Weekend. Benjamin is co-executive producer, co-creator and co-writer of the Netflix comedy-drama Wellmania; creator and co-writer of The Family Law (SBS/Hulu/Comedy Central Asia); and playwright of the sold-out Torch the Place (Melbourne Theatre Company). He has a PhD in creative writing and cultural studies from the Queensland University of Technology.
