The 29th Bald Archy Prize is up and running at Watson Arts Centre from Friday and  CityNews took a quiet walk-through of the hang on Thursday morning.

Premiering in its spiritual home, Canberra, the exhibition will run for nearly two months here before the winner of the $10,000 prize is announced on March 21, after which the show will tour eastern Australia.

When I arrived at Watson Arts Centre, I found Luke Grealy, manager of the Museum of the Riverina in Wagga Wagga, which now hosts the prize, deep in conference with a group of art experts assisting the chief judge, Maude, the sulphur-crested cockatoo from Coolac, where the late Peter Batey had founded the prize in 1994.

Up for debate was whether a mixed-media collage image of Archy regular Costa Georgiadis was eligible, but a quick call to Wagga and a nod from Maude confirmed that the portrait was in.

Year in year out a barometer of the social climate in Australia, the Bald Archy has regular favourite subjects, though their reign can be short-lived.

Among them, opposition leader Peter Dutton once again takes out first prize as subject, with no fewer than six representations.

Mining magnate Gina Rinehart is next with three portraits, including an unusual one by Kez Thompson, Heads You Loose, a triptych of book pages showing PM Anthony Albanese and Mr Dutton paying homage to Ms Rinehart.

From the cartoon world, there’s a quirky portrait of Media Watch host Paul Barry by Mark Tippett and a similarly distorted image of singer Nick Cave by Judy Naidin in Wild God.

Naturalist Bob Irwin is shown by Brad Blaze in a loving pose with a crocodile, just like his late father Steve.

The sporting world is well-represented, with among others a strange image of Rabbitohs’ coach Wayne Bennett and Panthers co-captain Nathan Cleary pictured  twice, in James Brennan’s It’s a Chin-Win Situation and Steve Keast’s The Iceman Cometh.

The Bald Archy Prize 2025, Watson Arts Centre, 1 Aspinall St Watson, February 7-March 23.

James Brennan’s It’s a Chin-Win Situation, Nathan Cleary

Judy Naidin, Wild God, Nick Cave

Miss Congeniality by Joanne(Jojo) Skillington