The Bright Side of a Portrait- Ann Cape at Juniper Hall

There isn’t a whole lot that can be said of Ann Cape that hasn’t already been commented about her beautiful artwork, which continues to inspire and amaze art lovers even after 25 years. Her portrait exhibition currently showing at Juniper Hall is no exception. The show, which features some of her best made work, is a part of the lead up to the announcement of the 2015 Doug Moran National Portrait Prize. As a nominee from a previous year, her work was selected to be shown to show off some of the best portraiture Australia has to offer.

In a setting such as Juniper Hall, Cape’s artistry can flourish, and flourish it does. My immediate reaction when entering the first room of portraits is to marvel at how brilliantly Cape has captured these portraits without sacrificing colour. It seems like each painting has its own colour scheme. The vibrant colours that frame each subject is then encompassed into that persons face. Take for example the portrait of Guy Warren (number 12 in the show); the background colours of green, blue and a hint of yellow creep into his shirt and up to his face, engulfing him. The effect is enchanting, brightening up to portrait.

Another feature of the paintings that stands out is how the artist has contoured each face to make it more alive. The deliberate brushstrokes bring out every line and every shadow that crosses the face. It emphasizes dimension in the portrait, like a photo that has been painted. And while the strokes are broad, they capture the finer beauty of the person, such as hair strands, cheekbones, the shape of the eyes, etc. This intricacy is alluring without being overwhelming. It contributes to how the viewer reads the painting without overstimulating the senses.

The realistic nature of the portraits leads you to recognise some famous faces in the Arts community. Some that stood out to me were Guy Warren and Sophie Cape, both artists. Sophie happens to be Ann’s daughter and she is also an artist who is doing well with her work at the moment.

What i absolutely loved about the show is that Ann is not afraid to mix things up and show off paintings of a more risqué subject. It shows that Cape isn’t afraid to branch out with her subjects and gives us diversity for all types of audiences. I have to say, it was a bit of a show reading across the walls of portraits and coming across the painting of a mistress in her ‘Black Dungeon’. The painting was vivid and sensual with it’s dark colours and mysterious subject. It was refreshing to have some diversity in the one show.

Another favourite aspect of the show is the two paintings that depicted Aboriginals in Arnhem land. The earthy tones switched up the bright colours in some of the other paintings.

Portraiture can translate to being a very fancy art form, but I found this exhibition to be very open to all audiences. It was fresh and intriguing with famous faces and candid moments. I enjoyed it for its technique and its versatility, which both demonstrate why Ann Cape has been a prominent artist in the Australian art scene for 25 years.

The exhibition will be showing until the 26th of July at Juniper Hall. Check out the Juniper Hall website for more information.