Rima Jabbur
by Jenn Allen
The Importance of Portraiture below , The Kill , oil on linen right , Gaby , oil on linen
Portrait painting is one of the oldest forms of the medium . During the Renaissance , portrait painting became the standard requirement for all painters . When looking back through history , we view the elite exclusively through the gaze of the painter . Without these skilled artists , we would have no visual representation of prestigious historical fi gures .
In the age of contemporary art , it is rare to fi nd a technically skilled portrait painter , but that is exactly what Rima Jabbur does . Using her classical training , she creates life-sized portraits and striking narratives . The fi rst piece we looked at in her expansive studio space was a jarring image of a hunting scene . This piece , which is 60 ” wide and 50 ” tall , depicts the moment a hunting party inspects the animal that they have killed . Jabbur has been on multiple hunting trips in Africa , but has never participated in the act of hunting herself . In this painting , Jabbur has recreated the decisive moment . Working with a video still as a reference , she turned the pixelated frame into a fl awless oil painting . Standing in front of the image , it is not only reminiscent of a crime scene , but it also appears as if you are part of the hunting party , lighting the scene with a fl ashlight . With a medium like painting , it is easy to take an image based on reality and turn it into an illustrative work , but Jabbur strives to create truth through her paintings .
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