Mitchell Fine Art is delighted to present Sophie Cape’s first solo exhibition alongside an exhibition of new works by acclaimed Australian artist Ann Thomson.
The exhibitions bring together two distinctive generations of Australian female painters, both deeply engaged with landscape and the physical experience of painting, but with strikingly different approaches.
For Sophie Cape, Inferno marks her debut with Mitchell Fine Art. Cape is renowned for her intensely physical relationship with the Australian landscape. Working both outdoors and in the studio, she allows natural forces including rain, mud, fire, wind and erosion to become part of the creative process. Her paintings occupy the space between abstraction and representation, capturing the energy, movement and elemental nature of the landscape.
Cape's work has been recognised through major Australian art prizes including winning the Hadley's Art Prize in Tasmania and the Portia Geach Memorial Award and Paddington Art Prize in Sydney.
Ann Thomson, a Brisbane-born artist whose career spans more than six decades, presents Evolving, a new body of paintings exploring colour, gesture, texture, memory and place. Thomson is one of Australia's most respected contemporary artists, with works held in major collections including the Queensland Art Gallery and the Art Gallery of New South Wales.
Her practice, primarily abstraction, is intuitive mark-making and a distinctive use of colour creating works that evoke the sensation and memory of landscape rather than simply depicting it.
Presented together, Inferno and Evolving create a compelling dialogue between two generations of Australian painters. Thomson's paintings emerge from decades of experience, memory and intuitive exploration, while Cape's work is rooted in a direct and often elemental encounter with the natural environment.
OPENING & ARTIST TALK — SATURDAY 17 OCTOBER, 2.30pm
The Gallery will host an artist talk moderated by Samantha Littley, Curator of Australian Art at Queensland Art Gallery. This will be followed by opening celebrations providing guests with an opportunity to meet the artist and enjoy the exhibition.
The exhibition is showing from 13 October – 14 November 2026.
Image: [left] Sophie Cape, [right] Ann Thomson