Wicked Painting

Hypha Gallery 3 / No. 1 Poultry, London EC2R 8EN

PV: Thursday, 12th March 2026, 6-9pm

Open: 13 March – 18 April 2026

Wicked Painting, is a group exhibition showcasing contemporary painters who delve into the shadowy, the seductive, and the strange. Bringing together nine emerging artists whose work traverses personal mythology, dark humour, the monstrous, and the liminal, the exhibition explores the layered meaning of “wicked” – at once alluring and transgressive, potent and possessed. These artists mine the emotional and symbolic depths of the subconscious, drawing on archetypes, folklore, memory, and pop culture to reveal what lies beneath the surface of the self.

At the core of Wicked Painting is a shared fascination with transformation and ambiguity – where images remain in flux, often grotesque or uncanny, yet emotionally weighted and strangely magnetic. Collectively, the exhibition challenges painting’s traditional associations with clarity, control, and heroic representation. Together they revel in contradiction and embrace the raw, the unstable, and the psychologically charged. It positions painting as a haunted and playful act – where the ‘wicked’ becomes a site of power, liberation, and complex meaning.

Having studied within the Royal College of Art this past year I have noticed this theme come through for quite a few of us. Now that the MA school year is coming to completion many of us are looking for opportunities and affordable spaces where we can make these conversations, paintings and ideas manifest together for public viewing. We can’t currently afford exhibition

spaces and many are in search of part time work to support our emerging practices and life after the RCA.

This exhibition, with the title ‘Wicked Painting’ would also been ideal to have in October time as it fits well with the feeling of the month of Halloween and all that encompasses. Frieze week would also be ideal as many of us are building on the momentum of this year.

Nanci Byrne

Harriet Horner

Mariella Smilas

Fatemeh Heidarhosseini

Gena Milanesi

Elspeth Vince