JACOBUS CAPONE

MOORE CONTEMPORARY is pleased to re-stage this solo exhibition originally scheduled in March.

Piteraq features a suite of intimate paintings on paper that were made while the artist was on residency on the island of Upernavik Greenland in the Winter of 2017. Piteraq is a katabatic wind originating on the icecap that sweeps down the coasts with speeds reaching between 50 to 80 m/s (180–288 km/h). The word "piteraq" translates to "that which attacks you".

Largely confined indoors, and quelling the anxieties induced by the extreme weather and hostile environment, Capone turned the recall and depiction of string games from a children’s book into a daily ritual. Venturing out to collect the sea ice to mix with the gouache was an essential activity and characteristic of Capone’s immersive and performative approach that guides his practice.

Studies of string games rendered in black gouache with melted sea ice on black sugar paper, are in their intimacy charged with the magnitude of the physical and psychological challenges of living in 24 hours of darkness in a hunting and fishing village 800 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle. Accompanying these unique works is a new 2 channel HD video work and an edition photographic print.

Jacobus Capone has an expansive and multi-disciplined practice where work often stems from self-initiated pilgrimages and performances that incorporate durational activity, measures of time or a sense of episodic memorial. Since graduating from Edith Cowan University in 2007 his exhibition history is impressive. He has shown in many cities across the globe and nationally, and has been included in several important projects that identify and celebrate influential new practice such as Primavera 2017 at the Museum of Contemporary Art and New 16 at the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art. He was the 2016 recipient of the John Stringer Prize. In 2021 he will participate in the TarraWarra Biennial and present a solo exhibition at the Fremantle Arts Centre.