Archibald Finalist 2025
Solomon Kammer was selected as a finalist in Australia’s most famous portrait prize, the Archibald Prize, for their work ‘Kim’.
Kammer is one of 57 finalists selected from 903 entries. The Archibald exhibition tours Australia til September, 2026.
Solomon Kammer’s subject is artist Kim Leutwyler, who has been an Archibald finalist on seven occasions.
‘Kim and I have been friends for years and I visit them on every work trip to Sydney,’ says Adelaide-based artist Solomon Kammer, whose work examines the intersection of bias, social constructs and healthcare inequalities.
‘Kim’s art has always been much like the artist themself – vibrant, joyful and unapologetically queer. These past few years, Kim has been working to dismantle the barriers that have increasingly pulled them away from their truest version of themself.
‘We met earlier this year. Between this meeting and the last, Kim had undergone gender-affirming surgery, and it was immediately evident that this external transformation had effected an internal realignment and comfort I had never seen before. It was beautiful to behold, but the joy of living more authentically has come with a sharpened awareness of how differently the world responds. Visibility, while empowering, can also elicit a new kind of hostility,’ says Kammer.
For Kammer and her sitter, this portrait ‘celebrates Kim reclaiming themself, but acknowledges that it’s not without a cost. They advocate for the depoliticisation of trans bodies and lives so that trans people may access their right to live safe, joyful, thriving lives.’
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