Marguerite Horner, The Valley of the Shadow, 2004
Bleached-out landscapes, monochrome skies and moonlit seas make up the sensitive and evocative practice of London-based artist Marguerite Horner. But while the sublime skyscape Awakening and the evocative landscape The Valley of the Shadow are beautifully rendered in oil or charcoal on paper, and delivered on a scale sufficiently large and dramatic as to reinforce Horner's technical virtuosity, the most successful works on the Your Gallery website are the eerie If she does not listen and To be where you really are. Mysterious but understated, they draw in the viewer to a world which Horner has succeeded in making convincingly real and uncomfortably uncanny. The wintry branches in If she does not listen distract our attention from the wood beyond, forcing us to pause and focus on what is immediately before us, as though we were being abruptly halted by a physical blockage on a woodland path. A similar ploy is at work in To be where you really are, where a picturesque white house is half obscured by a thick hedge and trees. Horner is adept at enticing and frustrating the viewer in a manner reminiscent of Northern European Romantic painters, such as Casper David Friedrich - so perhaps she should omit the line of explanation she has included to accompany each work. She doesn't need them - the paintings command sufficient time and attention from the viewer to lead them to draw their own conclusions - and the sense of mystery adds to their charm. Jane Neal
Jane Neal is an Oxford-based freelance journalist and critic. Her special focus over the past year has been the developing art scene in Central and Eastern Europe. She contributes to a wide variety of international art publications.
Marguerite Horner, who was shortlisted for the 2006 Celeste Art Prize, has two shows coming up. Her work is in a group show, 'Conceive', at the Lowood Gallery, Cumbria, 5 July-26 August 2006 (email: lowoodgallery@msn.com), and she has a solo show at the Star Gallery in Lewes, East Sussex, 26 August-9 Sept 2006 (tel: 01273 480218). To contact the artist, email marguerite.horner@lineone.net
Works by Marguerite Horner on Your Gallery:
Marguerite Horner, If she does not listen, 2006
Marguerite Horner, Awakening, 2004
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