Julian Martin, Michael Long, Football, Essendon, 1995, Julian Martin
Summary
Artist Julian Martin, who has autism, has been honing his artistic practice into a distinctive vision over the last 30 years, during which he has been regular practitioner at the Arts Project Studio in Northcote. Over this period his work has undergone some decisive shifts, but the persistence of certain motifs and techniques have defined his works in pastel on paper. For example, in this work Martin's signature marks of white-ringed eyes, caterpillar-like eyebrows and a triangular nose are clear, so too the flattened form and colourful geometric background. Figurative and yet abstracted, this work of art, made in 1995 and acquired for the collection in 2014, comes from a period in which Martin focused on Aussie rules football.
The portrait shows Indigenous player Michael Long, who played for Essendon from 1989 to 2001, and is counted one of the club's most exciting and talented players. He won the Best First Year Player when he joined, featured in the All-Australian team in the year that this work was made and won the Norm Smith Medal two years earlier, in 1993. Just as significant to Long's legacy as his on-field flair was his challenge to racism in the code, which was initiated by a taunt from Collingwood's Damian Monkhorst, which the determined Long called out as unacceptable.
