Gina drama goes next level

“We’re all just here to see Gina, let’s not lie,” Kathy Colby, 53, declared to the group of strangers who had poured into the National Gallery of Australia.

No one argued with her statement. They had all braved the chill on Saturday morning to view the portrait the billionaire tried to have yanked off the walls.

“We only know about it because she’s made such a song and dance,” Kathy said as she continued her impromptu stand-up routine, pausing only to take selfies. “Seriously, stop crying.”

She travelled down from the coastal New South Wales town of Wollongong to celebrate her friend’s birthday. Of course they needed to include Gina in the celebrations.

“This is the icing on the cake,” Kathy gasped, clutching her chest.

The artwork, by Archibald Prize-winning Indigenous artist Vincent Namatjira, is part of a wider collection featuring portraits of other famous faces: Prime Ministers Scott Morrison and Julia Gillard, Queen Elizabeth, Adam Goodes, Jimi Hendrix. Now, thanks to all the protesting, the billionaire’s portrait has become the star of the show – with throngs of people swinging by the NGA to say g’day to Gina.

The gallery space where the magnate is hung has become a live-action episode of Gogglebox — but with more culture and less Amart furniture.

“It’s giving marshmallow slay,” Holli Gilbertson, 33, declared of the portrait. “It’s the pastels. It’s lush. The way she has been carrying on is absolutely hilarious, but the photo is iconic. We needed to see it up close. It has not disappointed.”

She travelled from Adelaide with her friend Rosie Karnesis, 33, who was busy giggling while zooming in on Gina’s face with her phone.

Holli pledged to head down to the museum gift shop to buy Gina merch.

“I hope it’s on a tea towel,” she said.

Rosie exhaled.

“Do I want her in my house?” she pondered while glancing up at the painting on the wall. “That’s a cursed image.”

A discussion of ethics ensued. The money would go to the artist and, if there was a tea towel, you could use it to clean dirty saucepans with Gina’s face, Holli argued. It would be a different story if you were proudly wielding a Gina tote.

Either way, the museum gift shop attendant had bad news.

While there had been an “unusually high number of requests” for Gina merch, the gallery sadly had not anticipated the extreme customer demand and could not even offer a postcard with the mining baron’s face on it.

“That’s The Gina!” a group of women whispered as they crept into the space. “There she is!”

For hours across the day, grown adults entered with mischievous childlike glee, their eyes sparking when they spotted the painting they’d heard so much about.

There were gasps. Some squeals. Phones shot into the air to take pictures.

“A hundred per cent, Gina is the only reason we even know about this exhibition,” said ice hockey player Alyssa Harris, 35, who heard of the display on a podcast she was listening to with teammates as they drove down from Newcastle for a tournament.

They decided to make a special detour.

“On the podcast, they were talking about The Streisand Effect and how the only reason we know about this exhibition is because Gina threw a fit.”

She was referencing the term coined after Barbra Streisand launched a lawsuit in 2003 to remove an aerial photo of her Malibu beach house from a website. The singer’s attempt backfired and led to almost half a million people viewing the image online.

NGA has reported a spike in attendance since news of Gina’s objections hit the headlines.

“I’m from Canada so I heard about it from a friend who said, ‘There’s this painting of Gina that you must go see because everyone’s making memes about it’,” said tourist Trish Hewitt.

“I’d be more offended with that other painting of Gina,” said local university student Leah Troy while squinting at the second portrait of Australia’s richest woman – also by the artist Vincent Namatjira – that hung on a nearby wall. “She should come see it in person.”

“I mean, if there was one painting you were gonna be arguing to get rid of between the two, that’s the one,” grimaced Canberra resident Liam Flannery, 36.

Attention quickly diverted from the “marshmallow slay” painting to the lesser-hyped black and white sketch that, according to 79-year-old Judy Tier, looked “very miserable”.

“But that’s her. That’s how she looks in real life,” she said, like a nanna who was fed up with her preening drama queen of a granddaughter.

“I don’t think any of them are supposed to be unflattering — it’s just the style,” argued Chelsea Hosking, 36.

“Other people copped it worse,” someone added.

All attendees agreed: some of the other famous faces in the collection might not be thrilled with their representations.

“The queen looks a little … growly,” someone observed.

“Gina should be grateful she didn’t get the ScoMo treatment,” another pedestrian critic mumbled.

“This is the most famous painting in the world,” new dad Gavin Sidhu, 34, whispered to his baby son Kenzo.

He came “one hundred per cent” just for Gina.

With arms stretched high, dad held Kenzo up in front of The Gina like Simba in The Lion King. Kenzo’s mum snapped a photo for the baby album.

“Baby’s first exhibition,” dad said.

More people shuffled in to pose for photos – some more brazen than others. A family of four made a pit stop just to see The Gina while en route to a Lego exhibition across town.

Video producer Simon Dikkenberg, 46, was visiting Canberra from Bulli in New South Wales and made a special journey to witness Gina in all her glory.

“The actual image itself is absolutely breathtaking,” he said. “It just captures her soul. Her essence oozes out of her.”

He stood back with his partner and they snuggled into each other, basking in the pinkish glow that seemed to radiate from the billionaire’s face. Simon stepped forward to take photos of the masterpiece on his phone. Then his girlfriend took pictures of him admiring it. Keen to capture the moment permanently, Simon pulled out a polaroid film camera and proceeded to snap away. The camera spat out tiny prints of The Gina – one for the scrapbook, another for the fridge.

As the day wound down, a mum strolled in with her little girl.

“She looks funny,” the child declared.

Her mum shrugged.

“She looks how she looks.”

Facebook: @hellojamesweir