- It is my great pleasure to welcome you
to the annual Audacity of Art Award.
(camera lens clicks)
I would firstly like to thank our main sponsor
of the award, Marcus James of SCAPE Property Solutions.
(audience applauds)
This award has launched the career
of many famous Australian artists.
This year our judges have looked
at a thrilling cross-section of cutting-edge art.
Ladies and gentlemen, the three finalists are:
David Wertz for Upside-Down Woman.
(audience applauds)
- David.
(camera lenses click)
- Tracey Anderson for UFerdig Elske.
(audience applauds)
- Tracey.
(camera lens clicks several times)
- And finally, Gavin Gonntchev for Home.
(audience applauds)
- Gavin, well done Gavin, you worked really hard.
- Gavin?
Anybody here with Gavin?
Well, congratulations.
Gavin, Tracey and David I look forward
to seeing you at the award ceremony.
(audience applauds)
- You need to leave.
- Why can't I just have something to eat?
- No man, it's invitation only.
- I'm just getting, don't touch me.
Don't touch me.
I'm just gonna get something to eat.
You'll regret it, you'll regret it.
(crowd murmurs)
- Hey, I think this deserves a toast, don't you?
- Absolutely.
To you.
(glasses clink)
(dramatic music)
(jazzy, playful music)
(gentle music)
(equipment clicks into place)
(rubber glove snaps)
- I've been thinking, maybe I should take up painting again.
Do you remember that one I did of the horse.
- The watercolor, yeah, that was fantastic.
- Just something artistic, you know,
pottery or sculpture and maybe I could do one
of those TAFE things with Janine.
- Well you know, if the muse is calling you,
it's your duty to answer it.
- It was a good horse, wasn't it?
- It looked exactly like one.
(upbeat music)
(footsteps on hard floor)
- The deceased came to an opening last night,
got rowdy.
Looks like he came back to do a bit of damage.
- Who was he?
- Well, no one knows.
No ID, no missing person matching his description.
According to some witnesses he was just some homeless bum.
You smell nice.
- Well that'll be the glutaraldehyde.
Nic had to wash her hair in it last night,
some rats fell on her while we were cleaning a vent.
- So, it looks like he broke in,
tried to yank off some expensive sculpture
that was attached to one of those movable walls.
Problem was it was so firmly attached
that he pulled the whole thing down on top of himself.
- That's awful.
- So Peter, what happened over here.
- The gallery owner found a heart
right in the middle of that pattern.
- Not the victim's, though, cause there'd be
more blood wouldn't there?
- Well lab boys think it's an ox heart.
Enough to turn you vegetarian.
- That's weird.
Why would he bring an ox heart?
- We'll have a better idea once forensics run some tests.
See how old it is.
Whether it was refrigerated.
- You know in ancient Rome
they used to take the heart from an ox
and the priestesses would bathe in the blood of the animal
as they worship the goddess Cybele.
- Let me write that name down Charlie.
Could be very helpful with our investigation, yeah.
There we go, Cybele.
Anyway, looks like death by misadventure.
Sad thing is he's a homeless guy
so nobody'll miss him.
- So what's the homeless man doing in art opening?
- Oh free canapes and grub.
He had a run-in with a security guard
cause he was stealing food.
- He has to have been somebody. - No, not this guy.
He was just some body.
If I get an ID on him, I'll let you know.
I mean, it's important to you Nic.
- Thanks Peter.
- Charlie.
- [Charlie] Peter.
(quiet piano music)
- Everybody's somebody.
(quiet piano music)
Darling.
- Yes darling.
- Could you come and have a look at this blood splatter,
just tell me what you think.
- Absolutely darling.
All right, outer limit of the blood spatter
approximately 25 centimeters.
Average weight of an ox heart,
one to one and a half kilograms.
So, it was probably dropped rather
than actually placed there on the ground.
Probably from a height of about here.
(sponge splashes)
- It must have dropped accidentally
rather than deliberately, the way you drop something
if you were startled.
Say, if you'd seen a dead body, for instance.
- Maybe, perhaps, possibly, I mean it's a long go.
- [Olivia] You're the cleaners? - Oh, hello, yeah I'm Nicola Buchanan,
this is my husband Charlie. - Olivia Patterson.
Look it is vitally important
that you do not speak to the press.
Did Detective Vinetti say anything to you? (Nicola and Charlie mumble no)
The simple fact is if this gets into the press
we lose our award sponsor.
No award, sponsor no award, you follow?
- [Charlie] Absolutely, just--
- Marcus James is very sensitive about publicity,
so we'd all just like to put this behind us.
- A man just died.
- A drunken vandal's just died.
Through no one's fault but his own.
I see little point mourning the end of a life
already completely wasted by the person living it.
Come by my office on your way out.
(high heels click on floor)
- Well, she was nice.
(jazzy music)
(vacuum roars)
(jazzy music)
- And why would a homeless man wanna tear down a work of art?
Seems like such a theatrical gesture
for someone who's concerned with just surviving.
- Perhaps he wanted to steal it.
- Stealing something to eat I can understand.
But you can't eat art.
- Oh well you obviously aren't familiar
with the work of Giuseppe Arcimboldo.
Works entirely with fruit and vegetables.
- Oh is that right?
- Oh yes, yes.
He holds these exhibitions
if people come on and they don't like it
they throw small portraits at him.
It's true, absolutely.
- Hi, look, do you know if they're delaying
the prize announcement?
- Oh no, we wouldn't know.
- Well where are you gonna move the art from the wall that fell over.
- Oh it's not up to us cause we're just the cleaners.
- Are you from the press?
- No I'm an artist.
I'm Tracey Anderson.
- Oh Tracey Anderson.
Oh, Uferdig Elske.
- [Tracey] You liked it.
- So beautifully made.
- Where's Olivia?
- Oh, is it okay to come inside?
- No actually, neither of you should be here
until we've run the cumulo-extractor.
It's microbial flensing unit.
- State of the art.
- So where are you hanging your art?
- I need to speak to Olivia.
- Well, I think you should put it over there.
- Whatever.
- Well you just can't put it over there in this bit.
It's the wrong space.
it's a completely different textural energy.
- Textural energy.
You just don't want people to see it
when they come through the door.
- This prize is supposed to be about cutting edge,
not painting went out with Columbus.
- Haven't we had enough trouble here for a while?
- Tracey? - Just--
- Both of you, shut up and get out.
- Yeah.
- David I'll talk to you later about
where we will re-hang Upside-Down Woman.
- I have something.
- And I will not discuss this with you at all.
Go.
All of you out.
Now!
- But we actually do have to run the cumulo-extractor.
Which I was explaining--
- Of course not you.
Just hurry up and clean this place up.
- Absolutely.
Excuse, sorry.
Can I help you darling?
(high heels click on floor)
- Hey Nic.
- Hi.
- Charlie back?
- Oh he's still mopping up,
do you want to speak to him?
- No no.
- So how is the ID going on our poor John Doe?
- Not great.
- Personal effects?
- Yeah.
Come on Nic, you know I can't show you that stuff.
- Come on that's what if we haven't helped you in the past.
Where are they?
- In the boot of my car.
- I won't tell if you don't.
- On the QT; absolutely our secret, yeah.
- What's happening dudes?
- Peter is gonna show us some evidence.
- Cool.
What sort of evidence?
- Classified.
- Like classified evidence.
- [Nicola] We have to keep it on the QT.
- Absolutely.
- Oh, oh that's not good.
- Mm-hmm.
Cinnamon buns.
Last time it was this strong were in the botanical gardens
cleaning out the roof of Captain Cook's cottage.
- Ah, this is odd match, isn't it?
Those shoes a worn out and this suit looks almost new.
- [Charlie] Savile Row, expensive tastes.
- Yeah, it's made to measure.
We haven't been able to get on to the tailor so far.
- Well Catesby and Lovell died in 1910 in a rail disaster.
Ozwald Boateng took over the label in 1954
but he probably got from an op shop.
- That's got a smoky smell too, hasn't it?
- Mmh that will explain this faint hint of budgie.
Well he's homeless
so he's probably lighting fires to keep himself warm.
- Yeah.
This unusual?
- Working cuffs.
It's a staple of Savile Row tailoring.
- [Nicola] Hmm.
(trunks slams closed)
(upbeat music)
(birds chirping)
- How much longer is this gonna take?
Cause I've got an exam tomorrow
that I'm not nearly ready for.
- Look, Jess don't talk sweetie. Makes your mouth all blurry.
- It's sad, you know, about that guy.
He had a mother and a father.
Maybe even a family of his own.
How do you get to the point where nobody misses you?
- I know it doesn't make any sense, does it?
I mean why would you steal something to eat
and then come back and steal a work of art?
- So you don't think it was an accident?
- I can't prove it until we know who the guy was.
- Bat guano.
That's good, that's good, that's good.
Hold that.
(fruit thumps the floor)
Oh Jess, you naughty girl!
That's ruined now.
- Hang on, hang on a minute.
The reason the roof in Captain Cook's cottage smelled
like cinnamon buns is because of bat guano.
- Oh God, yes of course.
The Botanical Gardens were full of fruit bats.
- What, he was living the Botanical Gardens?
- No, no, no, no, they've moved
the colony of bats from the gardens
to Yarra Bend, near the river.
- That's right of all those empty factories.
- It's worth a shot.
- Yeah, you better get changed.
- Yeah me too.
- No Jess, you've got study to do.
(heels click on floor)
(gentle music)
(sniff many time, loudly)
- It smells right.
Okay, Darling could you go grab me
that large oil drum over there?
- The really heavy one?
- Yeah.
(gentle music)
(tire jangles the fence)
(gentle music)
How'd you get in there?
- Just through the gate darling.
(gentle music)
(loud clang)
That didn't sound like a bat Charlie.
- Aluminium bat maybe.
We should go.
(more metal clanging)
(tense music)
- Charlie.
(tense music)
- You come here to make off with the silver,
you've come to the wrong place, mate. - No no no no no.
We're not here to cause any trouble.
- How'd you get in?
- Well there are no walls.
- Hello.
- Why didn't you say?
Why didn't you say?
You sit down.
Make yourself comfortable, please.
- Thank you.
- Mm-hmm.
Can I get you anything?
- No, no, we can't stay.
We actually just came here to get some information.
- Who wants this information?
- Well my name is Charlie Buchanan
and this is my wife Nicola.
- Hi.
- Ah, married, eh?
- [Charlie] Yes, yes.
- He's a very lucky man, your husband.
Nicola, a beautiful name Nicola.
Means to glisten.
Glisten in a place of darkness.
- No I didn't know that.
- No it's Italian for victory, isn't it? - Glisten.
- Yeah and what's your name?
- Best you call me Jack.
- Jack.
- Nicola.
- Charlie.
- I'm afraid you caught me on a shopping day, Nicola
pantry's a little bare.
Cigarette?
- Not for me, thank you.
- No I was hoping you had one.
- Jack we were looking for somebody.
- Yet we don't know his name but he was wearing a suit.
- Yes a Savile Row suit.
It's very expensive.
And had working cuffs.
- Yeah, that's Vinnie.
You want Vinnie.
- You're a friend of Vinnie's?
- Who wants to know?
- She does.
- Vinnie is my friend.
Circumstances have found us around the same campfire
from time to time you might say.
- Jack.
- Mmm?
- Vinnie died last night.
- Jack did you, what do you know about Vinnie?
Did you know Vinnie's surname?
- A terrible singer.
We called him Van Gogh, he had no ear.
(chortles quietly)
- Is that Vinnie's painting stuff over there.
- Yeah, probably.
This is a communal space.
Used to be artists swarming everywhere.
Worse than the bats, it was.
- Why did they leave?
- Fire.
Took out the servant's quarters and my bicycle.
And Tom, Tom never made it.
- Tom?
- A friend of mine and Vinnie's, Tom was.
A charming old reprobate.
Sell his own grandmother to the catters,
but he was a lovely little cook.
After he died, constable moved us all out.
It was only me and Vinnie come back.
Made the place our own, we did.
Don't know if I can run the place without him.
That's Vinny.
You can keep that and give him good home.
(gentle music)
- Thank you.
- Well if Vinnie was an artist,
he probably wasn't at the gallery for food.
- Hang on a minute.
65 luxury apartments, five-star day spa.
Take the beard, mustache and horns off,
I think it's the same Marcus James who's sponsoring the art award.
- Something smells very fishy Charlie. - It's probably Jack.
- I think it's time we paid Marcus James a little visit.
- Yeah.
- What?
- Well, I love the way your eyes light up when you're onto something, you know?
You radiate a certain glow as if lit from within.
- Really.
- Very attractive.
- Thank you, darling.
(gentle music)
- Aha, okay.
- What's the plan?
- I was following you on this one.
- Well it's a bit late for that, sweetie. Now we'll just have to wing it.
- Okay, that's a good plan.
- Just make it happen!
Can I help you?
Well, we were cleaning the Olivia Patterson Gallery
and we thought to ourselves,
Marcus James. - Marcus James.
There's a man who needs a couple of good cleaners.
- Because of all the buildings that you have.
- Oh yeah, yeah because of the buildings. Not because you're particularly filthy
or anything like that.
- Very enterprising of you but I've already got a number
of cleaners under contract, so.
- Sure, but you know we're not ordinary cleaners.
- No.
- No, we're hazmat cleaners, there's a difference.
- And you have industrial buildings that need that.
- Yeah sure, many buildings that would be in need, perhaps,
of specialists cleanups because of, I don't know,
fires or something that might have happened.
- You're journalists.
- No no no oh God.
No man I do you think of pursuing that.
But no.
- We were interested in in the the fire at Yarra Bend.
- Yeah, yeah did you know the man who died.
- Bob throw these people out.
- No it's okay Bob.
We'll see ourselves out.
We'll be fine.
Thank you Bob.
- [Nicola] No, no, no, no, no.
- Bob will make sure that you don't come back.
(crashes)
- Thank you, Bob.
Winging it doesn't work for us,
We've gotta plan things a lot better.
- It spiraled quite quickly, didn't it?
Tomorrow when I go to the gallery to pick up the extractor.
- Yeah.
- We'll follow the next best lead.
- After the planning things thoroughly before we go in.
- [Nicola] Yes.
(gentle music)
- Okay, well I'll keep her busy.
- Okay, I'll go to the office and rifle through everything.
- Sorry, I know you've done a really wonderful job,
et cetera, etcetera but I really need you
and that whatever it is out of here.
- Actually I'll do that.
- We've got the prize announcement tonight.
- Oh, sure we're just, we're packing up now.
- Good.
- Before you go Olivia,
I should give you a tax invoice for tax purposes.
But we've just had new letterhead done
wouldn't you know it, the printers got
our company number completely wrong.
So cause Charlie and I had to go through
and individually fix all of the the company numbers
on the letterhead which took ages.
But we didn't mind because we love spending time together.
In fact we just finished a 13,000 piece jigsaw puzzle
that was all white.
And that took, oh, that took about a year,
but we loved it.
- Okay.
(upbeat music)
- Nice work. - Oh!
- Good good.
- Sweetie, how'd you go?
- Not good, no it was locked, I couldn't get in.
- All right, well, then,
we have to wait until she comes out again.
- Damn, great plan.
These plans are coming thick and fast, aren't they?
(cell phone rings)
- That's Peter, I'll-
(phone ringing)
- I'll be cool.
(upbeat music)
- Do you like it?
- Oh it's extraordinary.
- Thank you.
Have you seen any of the other finalists?
- Yes, yes, Tracey Anderson's installation
and of course Gavin Gonntchev's piece
which I liked very much.
- Yes Gonntchev has a lot to say about the human condition.
- My wife paints.
- Does she?
- Yes.
Does an excellent horse.
Very hard to do horses.
Very difficult shape to capture.
I mean she's keen on other modes as well.
- Good.
- She likes pottery-
- Mm hm.
- and she has done some Hobbytex.
- Wow.
I tend to stick to the one medium, oils.
That's what I do.
- Do you know that da Vinci spent four years
painting the Mona Lisa's left eye
but only six minutes doing the right?
- That's very interesting.
I teach art history, I'd never heard that.
Yeah, when you study art, its history and its antecedents
you realize there's nothing new under the sun.
- Still, it must be wonderful to be able to paint.
- It is.
- I mean if I could paint half as well as my wife
I would die a happy man.
- You should come to one of my classes.
I think you'd enjoy it.
- Well thank you David.
I might just do that.
- Now I've gotta run.
I need to get suitably messed up for tonight's appearance.
Can't paint like a madman and look like an accountant.
- Oh, I see.
- Okay.
- Thank you.
(upbeat music)
(shoes click on floor)
- Chaka Khan?
- Oh, hello darling.
- Is there any news?
- No, no, no go, I'm afraid.
No, Olivia is still in the office.
It did give me a chance, though,
to consider this installation.
- Yeah?
- If you take a medial line all the way to the doorway
come in about two-thirds, that's exactly
where the ox heart was found.
- Mmh.
- Now, Uferdig Elske is Norwegian for Unfinished Love.
What if Tracey Anderson didn't mean in the postmodern way?
What if she wasn't being clever?
What if she was being literal?
- Okay, unfinished, so what have we got here?
We've got vegetable, mineral, we're missing animal.
It's the ox's heart.
- Yeah, yeah, I think the person
who brought the heart into the gallery-
- Was Tracey. - Tracey.
(roar of car engine)
- Yeah, I think the addition of the ox's heart
really would've been the right way to go.
- I know, and it has to be that empty one.
- Excuse me, what's happened?
- [Charlie] Tracey.
(Tracey breathes heavily)
- Where's Olivia?
- You brought the ox heart, didn't you Tracey?
- What?
- It needed to go in there fresh, didn't it?
That was the inspiration that was the statement.
Unfinished to finished.
- Why didn't you tell the police?
- Well if I had of what would they have thought?
You know, I've hardly had an untroubled life.
When I was a student I attacked Robert Hughes' windscreen
with a cricket bat cause he said my work was derivative.
- Tracey, it's a big leap from hitting a car
to killing somebody.
- I didn't kill anyone.
I just, I would have lost the prize and I need the money.
I just took that dead guy as a sign
that I needed to leave the piece the way it was.
- You took a dead man as a sign for your art?
- I get carried away sometimes and I do stupid things.
I'm impulsive.
I'm an artist.
You're not gonna tell anyone about this, are you.
The police?
Stop it.
Don't touch my hat!
(car doors slam)
- You're right Nic, your friend Vinnie was murdered.
Autopsy found mica in the head wound.
- Mica. - Mica?
- Mica is an important part of bitumen and asphalt.
Probably part of the roadway out here.
Which means that Vinnie was murdered
or at least knocked down out here.
Then somebody took him inside
and staged it to look like a break-in and accident.
- Yeah, that's our thinking.
- I don't know, Peter.
I just don't think Tracey did it.
I don't think she did it.
I feel it in my waters.
- Have you spoken to Marcus?
- Yes, and he spoke to the superintendent
and we should just leave that alone for now.
I'll see you.
- Bye.
- Marcus James was certainly at the opening.
He would had a chance to talk to Vinnie
and ask him to come back and meet him later.
- As a major sponsor, he would have had
access to the gallery.
- Well, he certainly seemed like an approachable fellow last time.
- He'll be at the award ceremony tonight
we can just ask him.
- It's a good plan.
- We'll work on it in the car.
(upbeat music)
- She's never gonna buy it.
- Just remember what we talked about.
Postmodernism, Impressionism, Pointillism, all the isms.
- Chaka Khan, you scope the joint for Marcus.
Me and Jess I'll track down Olivia.
- Right.
- Let's rendezvous at, synchronize watches.
- Mine's a Timex.
- So is mine.
(indistinct chattering)
- Hello.
- Oh, it's you.
- I just wanted to introduce you
to my very clever niece, Jessica.
She's an aspiring an artist.
I just thought you might have some words of encouragement or advice.
She's very talented.
- What's your preferred medium Jessica?
- Well, like, lots of mediums, but painting.
Painting I, like, love painting.
- I'll leave you guys to it.
- Yeah.
- You aunt is a very interesting woman.
- Yes, yes, I could tell you many things.
- What is it you really want to do.
You don't seem to be burning with the passion
of these lunatics.
- Well I'm actually studying for my MBA.
- Oh.
When I started out, an artist was a pariah.
- These days, parents feel they fail
if their child doesn't become a tortured artist.
- So what's the net return
on a gallery like this?
- Well, if you do it right, it can be very lucrative.
- Oh thank you.
(indistinct chatter)
- Gavin Gonntchev
(applauding)
- Thanks Olivia.
Well it's been a tough decision.
But I'm thrilled to announce
that the winner of this year's Audacity of Art Award
is Gavin Gonntchev for Home.
(audience applauds)
- Bad luck, David.
- Luck?
You have a lot to learn about the art world.
It's not all about being able to paint a horse.
Excuse me, I'm off to get seriously hammered.
- Gavin?
Gavin?
(piano music)
Gavin are you here?
(piano music)
- Excuse me!
Excuse me!
Excuse me just one moment.
Yes, yes, hello.
- What are you doing?
- Ladies and gentlemen my beautiful wife and I
would like very much to accept this award
on behalf of the artist tonight.
Unfortunately he is not here
to collect the award himself
because Gavin Gonntchev is sadly dead.
(gasps and murmurs from audience)
(tense music)
- [Jess] So Gavin's the dead guy?
- Vinnie, Vincent Van Gogh was his nickname.
Gavin Gonntchev is an anagram.
- Why would you anonymously enter a contest
with a $100,000 prize.
- [Charlie] It wouldn't be for the money, would it?
- [Marcus] Can you tell this guy to go away, please?
- [Olivia] Yeah, listen, just don't worry about it, please.
- Charlie, Marcus is wearing a Savile Row suit.
It's the same style suit as Vinnie.
It's the same suit, it's the working cuffs.
- Good cop, bad cop?
- No he's tough.
Bad cop, bad cop.
- Bad cop, bad cop.
- Mr James.
- Marcus James.
- [Marcus] What do you want?
- [Charlie] That's a nice suit.
- It's tailor-made, Savile Row.
- What of it?
- Well funnily enough
the man who died in this gallery
also liked Savile Row.
- Pretty expensive tastes for a man
who lives on the floor of a factory,
don't you agree?
- Look, I warned you before and I was nice about it.
Okay, I told you not to bother me.
- Yes, but in fairness, you were just referring
to the construction yard.
- Two men who lived in the factory
that your company's redeveloping have been killed.
Is that why Vinny came to the gallery?
Did he want to confront you about the fire and Tom's death?
Did you tell him to go away and leave you alone,
or did you say, "Come back and meet me later on"?
- I did nothing of the sort.
Look squatters are always a challenge
but I knew it would be a while
before we had to move them on.
So, I saw nothing wrong with letting them stay.
I should have never gotten involved with that place.
- You don't strike us as the kind of man
who'd be that understanding, does he sweetie?
- No, no you don't.
- I lost my brother for nearly six months when he was ill,
off his meds, I found him in a spot just like that one.
I'm not ignorant about how people become homeless.
- Oh, sorry.
- I didn't know that someone
would burn that place down and a man would die.
- Did you know the dead man?
- No, but I contacted his family after he died
and I tried to help.
I should have known what that would look like.
- That's why Vinnie was wearing your suit.
- After the fire I gave him all kinds of things,
food, clothing.
I was just trying to help out.
It wasn't my idea to move them on
it was the council's, for their own safety.
I had no idea the man who died at the gallery
was from that squat.
Olivia told me he was just some nutter.
- Did you have any idea
why Vinnie might have entered that competition
under a false name?
- Maybe to get at me.
But he never got the chance.
I wish he had of, at least I would have been able
to tell him my side of the story.
(Nicola groans)
(gentle music)
- Please.
Please.
Just leave me alone.
(gentle music)
- I feel really bad about accusing him.
- Well don't feel too bad about it.
You shouldn't hug him either.
He threatened to beat us up, remember.
All right, well given it's unlikely
that Vinnie went to Marcus to talk to him,
why did he enter the competition?
We need to find out more about who Vinnie was.
(upbeat music)
- And that's a lasagna that I made.
- Magnificent
I shall think of you with every mouthful, Nicola.
Oh manners.
Would you like a drink.
- Oh.
Thank you.
Jack, your friend Vinnie entered
an art competition using a false name.
Do you have any idea why he would have done that?
- No.
Petit four?
- Oh, it's okay.
- Jack we think that he might have known somebody
at the gallery.
Did he ever talk about his painting?
- Oh, ceaselessly.
Even when you were out of the room
he'd go on and on about it.
On and on and on.
A terrible bore, Vinnie, terrible bore.
- Can you remember anything Jack?
- You sure I can't tempt you.
- Thank you.
(Jack murmurs approvingly)
It was Tom who brought Vinnie into the commune.
He dragged him in here kicking and screaming.
When he got him in here, he turned him on
to a different sort of turps, if you will.
After that, after he got clean and sober,
he started doing his art like he's crazy machine.
He started doing paintings, and sculptures,
and portraits, everything.
The fire that killed Tom didn't only take Tom.
Took all of Vinnie's paintings, didn't it?
Took all his sculptures, everything gone.
It was after that, that's when he decided
to enter the competition, and then he,
he started working feverishly.
And all the time, he was saying
he had something he wanted to say,
and it was gonna be powerful.
Big and powerful and good.
That's the words, powerful and good.
He kept saying, on and on.
Nicola, your husband is right there.
You'd better go before we both do something we'll regret.
(playful music)
- I can't believe he made me that sandwich.
- Oh come on darling, you've licked worse than that.
- Anyway I'll take any ideas
as to what it was Vinnie was trying
to say with his art piece.
- It's always so subjective isn't it?
Reading art isn't as simple as reading
a Bryce Courtenay novel.
- Yeah, if we knew what it was he was trying to say
we'd be closer to the killer.
- You know something?
I think I know somebody who might have
a better understanding of that art than we do.
- Okay guys.
We're gonna be using all new canvases this week.
Charlie, glad you could make it.
- David, same.
David, this is a Nicola, my wife.
- Ah, the artist; horses I understand.
- And congratulations on your award by the way.
- Oh thank you, thank you.
It feels a bit strange with Tracey being disqualified
and Gavin's, well, you know.
Still, I suppose a win by default is still a win.
So you can set up on here.
- That's good.
- Everyone say hello to Phoebe. (whole class says hello)
- Today we're looking at contours, okay.
The womanly form.
What differentiates the woman from the man.
Don't be afraid to make mistakes.
Now it's about a layering, okay?
Don't overwork it.
- Yep.
- Show me how you're applying the paint.
(classical music)
Do you mind if I?
- Yeah.
- Okay this is what you're doing.
(classical music)
- It's uncanny.
- Mm hmm.
What you need to be doing is this.
(classical music)
- Hmm, okay.
- You're not covering canvas.
You're making brushstrokes.
- Got you.
- Big difference.
- Thank you.
- Okay guys, let's take a break.
You're doing well Charlie.
Very fast learner.
- Thank you.
- And you're making progress, Nicola.
The human form is obviously very different
from that of a horse.
Keep at it.
- So winning the competition
does that mean that you'll give up teaching.
- No, nope, I love teaching.
Just buys me some more time in the studio.
- What was it like competing with people that you know?
- Well, Tracey, I've seen her around
but I've never even met Gavin Gonntchev
or whatever his name was
but I admired his work.
- We were wondering about Gavin, weren't we, with Home.
What did you make of that?
- Well he's referring to his homeless state literally
as the title suggests.
But it's also quite a fragmented piece
which suggests an acknowledgement
of his mental displacement.
- Would you ever enter your work under an alias?
- Well if I wanted to protest against
the commercial aspects of art
by renouncing ownership.
Some artists do it all for the glory of God,
never put their name on it.
- Yeah, (foreign language)
Titian never signed any of his work at all
until the last week of his life, and then went out and signed everything.
- I should get back to it.
Phoebe, get your gear off.
(slurps coffee)
- Yeah I could have told you his piece
was about homelessness.
What's Olivia's last name?
- Patterson.
I just think it's strange
that you conceal your identity and then turn up
to the actual award ceremony.
- Or is it, I mean it's a very prestigious competition.
There are thousands of entries.
Maybe Vinnie was entering his anagram name
in order to throw the selectors off the scent.
- I got the feeling that when Jack said that Vinnie
had something to say that he literally had something to say.
- Okay so he was using it more as a platform?
Yeah, maybe he entered the competition
to make a statement or some point to Olivia.
Maybe there's some sort of connection
between Vinnie and Olivia that we don't know about.
- Way ahead of you.
Do you see this page here?
So, that's her Facebook profile.
That's the gallery website.
And that's her blog.
But there is nothing about Olivia Patterson before 2007.
- [Nicola] Right.
- It's like she didn't exist before then. - Because she didn't exist before then.
Sometime before 2007 Olivia Patterson changed her name.
- Yeah and who would change their name.
- Somebody with something to hide.
(upbeat music)
- Still.
(upbeat music)
- Well I don't know if you've ever seen a liver fluke
but once it gets inside your body
the only way to get it out is with surgery.
Have you been in contact with any toilet seats
in the building in the last two months.
- Well yes, on several occasions.
- We're gonna need to do a Voight-Kampff test on every unit.
- I'm gonna want to see a negative
before we see a positive here.
You're gonna need to make a list of all the toilets
that you have used, which cubicle, the length of time
and the nature of each visit.
- Of course.
- [Charlie] God bless you.
- Bills, invitations and invoices,
You were great out there, sweetie.
Was that Charlton Heston?
- Yeah it was, "You maniacs!"
And who were you doing?
- I don't know.
- It was good, though.
- Oh, Charlie, take a look at this.
That's Vinnie.
- That's Olivia, isn't it?
She was Rachel Walker.
- She did change her name.
- Rachel Walker and Vincent Carver
celebrate their win at the 2001 Sydney--
- So his name was Vinnie.
- What the hell do you think you're doing?
Donald call the police immediately.
- Go right ahead cause it was never about protecting Marcus.
It was about protecting yourself.
- Here is that list.
- Oh thank you, great.
- Thank you very much sir. (coughs)
- Withholding evidence was just the icing on the cake.
Back in 2004 Olivia was--
- Rachel.
- Rachel, Rachel was buying work from down-and-out artists
for next to nothing, and selling it on to wealthy patrons
for exorbitant prices.
And then she would fix the books and pay no tax .
Vinnie discovered what his old classmate
was doing and exposed her.
And there are also rumors about plagiarism.
If that got out, Olivia--
- Rachel. - Rachel.
- You know Vinny was killed outside
and that Olivia / Rachel had a car, sure.
Why didn't he just take him to a shallow grave instead
she dragged the body back into her gallery.
It just doesn't make sense.
- Well motive and opportunity, that's what I'm saying.
I'll know more once I talk to her, okay.
- Sweetie.
- You know as appalling a person as Olivia is.
- Rachel.
I don't think she's the murderer.
Let's go.
(upbeat music)
(metal clangs on metal)
- He's a keeper, that one.
- Oh, don't I know it.
- It's important that neither of you feel
any pressure whatsoever to help me in any way.
- You won't tell us what you're looking for, sweetie.
- Well I don't wanna disappoint myself.
Happiness is relative to expectation.
(wall creaks)
(Nicola gasps)
- Upside Down Woman.
But by Vincent.
(dramatic music)
- Yeah, Charlie and Nicola,
what brings you back?
- We're pretty keen on buying some art.
You know Upside Down Woman is probably a little
out of our price range, but wonder if you had
anything else in your collection.
- Ah--
- [Charlie] If you got time.
- No of course.
These are these just photos and reproductions of my work.
- They're all very different.
- Yeah I guess that's my style.
- You got any composites of Upside Down Woman?
Any sort of sketches or works in progress?
- No, sorry.
- Yes, don't artists usually do dozens of sketches
of a composition before they start something
as large as this one?
- No not always.
Sometimes inspiration just takes you.
- So, what was your inspiration for Upside Down Woman?
- Various things.
- People.
- Squatters.
- Just let me know if you wanna come into the studio cause I can show you.
- We know where you found Upside Down Woman David.
- It's Vincent Carver's painting.
It's not yours.
- I don't know any Vincent Carver.
- That's cause you know him as Gavin Gonntchev.
- I never met him.
- You know the thing I found amazing about your art class
was your ability to identically replicate my brushstrokes.
Anything in that portfolio actually yours?
- You're out of your mind.
- What was it you said?
There's nothing new under the sun.
- I have to go.
- You know plagiarizing other artists' works
is one thing but murder.
- I don't know what you're talking about.
I didn't plagiarize anything.
I didn't murder anyone
and I certainly didn't burn anything.
- We didn't say anything about burning anything,
did we Charlie? .
- [Charlie] No we didn't mention that at all.
- You went to Vinnie's squat to copy his art regularly.
When you saw his version of Upside Down Woman,
you could see that it was an extraordinary work.
You copied it.
You tried to burn it.
You burned Vinnie's work.
- Did the fire get out of control,
or was that always part of your plan?
- Then out of nowhere the artist that you've been copying, Vinnie Carver,
turns up to the very competition
that you've entered his stolen working into.
- He entered to expose Olivia but he found you.
Did you talk to him?
Did you ask him to meet you?
Try and buy him off?
Couldn't be bought off though, could he?
Cause his friend had died in that fire.
He wanted to find out whether
he was right, and then he was going to expose you.
- No.
- You killed him then you dragged him back into the gallery
and tried to make it look like an accident.
- I didn't.
- And then you stole his prize money.
(laughing)
- This is--
(clangs into furniture)
(feet clomp on pavement)
- [Police] Wait, hey!
- It's good for Peter's self-esteem to catch one
by himself every now and again.
- Well done darling.
- Well done to you too darling.
(playful music)
(toilet flushes)
- Who's the guy in the bathroom?
- Oh that's Jack sweetie.
- Nicola.
Oh, she walks in beauty, like the night.
(floor creaks)
Oh, you've captured a beautiful as well.
- Thank you Jack.
- Oh Jack this is Jess.
- Hi.
- Your sister surely.
- Oh Jack did I tell you that Marcus James donated
that $100,000 prize money towards a homeless art shelter.
- A shelter without a home, tragic.
- Why does Charlie have hooves?
- Well, are you done, darling?
- Yes, sweetie, you ready?
- I am.
- Alright, on the count of three.
- One.
- Two.
- Three.
(gentle music)
(upbeat music)