The 52 individual canvases that comprise this portrait, by Melbourne artist Mark McCarthy, highlight the array of different perspectives that construct an individual and the impact of the internet and social media on the perception of identity. The coloured filters represent the case for marriage equality in Australia as portrayed through the lens of social media. 

McCarthy won the 2011 Whyalla Art Prize, South Australia, and the John Leslie Art Prize in 2004 at Gippsland Art Gallery. McCarthy has been short-listed in a large number of art prizes throughout Australia, including the ANZ Visual Arts Fellowship, the Fletcher Jones Art Prize, The Whyalla Art Prize, the Bayside City Art Prize and the Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship.

The art wall at Richmond Library is one of a number of public art initiatives whereby Council brings art into the everyday; we curate a changing exhibition program at Fitzroy, Carlton and Richmond libraries. We also have an exciting program at Council’s newest facility: Bargoonga Nganjin.

Image: Mark, Mark McCarthy, 2017, acrylic on canvas