Northern Cape Artist Wins the 2025 Portrait Award 

Malik Mani from Upington in the Northern Cape has been named the winner of the 7th edition of the prestigious Portrait Award.

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Taking first place for his hyperrealistic drawing Mask, Malik Mani was announced as the 2025 Portrait Award winner at a glittering gala evening held at Rust-en-Vrede Gallery on 29 August.

The work impressed the judges for its mastery, innovation and layered meaning. Mask is a striking metaphor of concealment and revelation: a male face breaking through a cracked surface resembling peeling paint. Drawn entirely in pencil, the portrait is both hyperrealistic and conceptual. “Realism often distracts the audience from the intended message and the underlying significance of the portrait. I had to devise a strategy to shift the audience’s focus from the technical skill to the underlying message,” Malik explains.

As the winning artist, he receives R150 000 in prize money and a solo exhibition at Rust-en-Vrede Gallery in 2027.

Joining Malik in the Top Three are two Western Cape artists:

• Ashley Ogilvy (2nd place) – Wherever we are, we are Here. An oil-on-aluminium portrait of District Six elder and jazz musician Joe Schaffers, holding a photograph on “Constitution Street”.
• Joseph Dolby (3rd place) – Robyn. A striking depiction of Robyn Cedras-Tobin, director of the Rupert Museum, framed by tulips and blossoms in vivid hues against a black ground.

This year’s judging process was rigorous, with one of the highlights being the remarkable variety of mediums and approaches. “Entries also flowed in from across the country – from the Western Cape to Gauteng and the Eastern Cape – and what makes this year especially noteworthy is that the winning artist hails from Upington in the Northern Cape, the first time a winner has come from this province, a testament to how portraiture talent is flourishing in every corner of South Africa,” says Donavan Mynhardt, curator at the Rust-en-Vrede Gallery.

The Top Six Finalists

In addition to 1st, 2nd and 3rd place, the full list of Top Six finalists includes:

• Themba Mkhangeli (4th place) – UKUCAMNGCA (Meditation). Created with a blue ballpoint pen out of sheer necessity, this self-portrait radiates calm and strength. Bees hover around the meditating figure, symbolising hope and life. 
• Monique Day-Wilde (5th place) – Wish you were here. Embroidered on fabric, this intimate portrait of an older man resembles a stitched memory. Fine threads suggest both fragility and permanence. 
• Ruan Huisamen (Ryno Swart Drawing Medal) – Adolescent in Blue. The artist captures the liminal state between childhood and adulthood. Executed in charcoal and pastels, the work achieves an almost photographic precision, but with a softness that evokes vulnerability. The piece balances fragility and intensity, capturing the restless inner world of adolescence.

The Top Six, included with the Top 40 works, will be on public display at the Rust-en-Vrede Gallery and Clay Museum in Durbanville until 29 October 2025.

From 30 August to 29 October, the Portrait 100 exhibition – featuring 60 more portraits that form part of the Top 100 – will be on display at the Spier Arts Trust Union House in Cape Town, as part of the First Thursdays programme. | rust-en-vrede.com/portrait-awards

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