Wicked Paintings

Wicked Paintings

Curated by Harriet Horner

13 Mar—18 Apr 2026
Private view: Thursday, 12th March 2026, 6 – 9pm
Public Dates: 13th March 2026 – 18th April 2026

Contact information
harriethorner@hotmail.com

Thursday – Sunday, 12 – 6pm

Wicked Painting is a group exhibition showcasing contemporary painters who delve into the shadowy, the seductive, and the strange. Bringing together eight 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 the unexpected.

Wicked Paintings
Artists in the show
  • Nanci Byrne
  • Harriet Horner
  • Mariella Smilas
  • Fatemeh Heidarhosseinii
  • Elspeth Vince
  • Eloise Knight
  • Mia Wilkinson
  • Tabitha Wilson

Artwork List

Fighting Bundling Bustling Peeking Sneaking Pinching Grabbing Tussling Floating Flying
Fighting Bundling Bustling Peeking Sneaking Pinching Grabbing Tussling Floating Flying
Harriet Horner , 2025
Summons
Summons
Elspeth Vince , 2026
Linger on
Linger on
Eloise Knight , 2025
Sounding Lines
Sounding Lines
Tabitha Wilson , 2026
Sedimentos de Memoria
Sedimentos de Memoria
Mariella Smilas , 2026
BOW CAT
BOW CAT
Mia Wilkinson , 2023
With and Against Intuition
With and Against Intuition
Fatemeh heidarhosseini , 2025
skin me alive, I’ll cover you until the end
skin me alive, I’ll cover you until the end
Nanci Byrne , 2026