When Julia Gutman Isn't Creating Art, Here's What She's Doing

At 29, the artist is one of the youngest women ever to win the Archibald Prize for her portrait of her former flatmate and friend, singer Montaigne. She tells us what she loves besides creating art.

The last exhibition I saw was…

The Really Bad Day John Had by Jason Phu, which opened at Chalk Horse Gallery the night before the Archibald announcement in May. The whole show told the story of a man named John, using tiny pen drawings on empty pistachio shells. It was perfectly irreverent and clever and silly.

The last movie I saw…

Aftersun. It was so tender and distinctive. The cinematography blew me away. But if you asked someone who knows me well, they’d tell you that my favourite movie of all time is the live-action version of Paddington 2 and they wouldn’t be lying. It’s pure, unadulterated wholesomeness.

The last TV show I binged …

Beef. It stars Ali Wong and Steven Yeun as two people who meet through a road-rage incident and become obsessed with each other in an unhealthy way. It’s a comedy of errors that skewers the art world and explores the complexity of the human heart – what’s not to love?

My favourite podcast is…

This American Life. It’s probably an obvious choice but I’m a lifelong fan and the host, Ira Glass, is my celebrity crush. Same Bed Different Dreams is one of my favourite episodes [there is a series of episodes with this theme], specifically the segment about Kim Jong-Il kidnapping his favourite South Korean movie stars. It’s a wild story.

The app I use the most…

Spotify. Life needs a soundtrack, right? In the studio I am either cosplaying as a sad teenage version of myself, featuring Belle and Sebastian, The Cure, The Smiths and Death Cab for Cutie, or singing along out of key to Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, Mariah Carey and Destiny’s Child, or being inspired by one of my talented friends – Montaigne’s last album was full of bangers and my friend Angus Mills just released a killer record called Alva that’s available on vinyl.

The last book I read …

Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado. It’s a collection of short stories and I loved it. It’s surreal, provocative and so original. I am all about magical realism, particularly when it comes with biting social commentary.

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