Henny Acloque's narrative paintings reference old masters such as Bosch, Bruegel and Durer and explore the fragility of life. Layers of paint and reflective varnish create timeless, evanescent landscapes that encapsulate curious creatures and symbolic, recurring motifs drawn from memories and myths, such as trees, animals, plants, eggs and arches. The majority of paintings are seductively small, which heightens the sinister frisson in the work and spectral space within all of the paintings provides a contemplative portal for considering self in relation to other. Archways with talons or medusa-esque vines brandishing a decapitated bird's head go further to belie the initial desire the paintings evoke in the viewer. Titles such as St. Paula (the patron saint of Widows) confirm that death is an ever present companion in her paintings. Well mined historical iconography - smoking candles, smiling skulls - undermine these eccentric worlds, where paradise is in the balance.
Henny Acloque was born in 1979 and lives and works in London. Recent solo exhibitions include 'Circumstances', First Floor Projects, London, 2010 and 'A Dressing', Ceri Hand Gallery, Liverpool, 2009. Group exhibitions include Threadneedle Art Prize , Mall Galleries london 2011 'Fade Away', Transition Gallery, London, 2010 and 'The Future Can Wait', The Truman Brewery, London, 2009. Henny won the Exeter Open, 2010 and was nominated for the Jerwood Drawing Prize, 2009.
