An exhibition at Mercer Gallery, Harrogate from Jan to May 2024

A dialogue between the artists John Atkinson Grimshaw and Louise Ventris.

John Atkinson Grimshaw (1836 – 1893) is widely regarded as one of the best painters of nocturnal Victorian England. His work often depicted the industrial northern towns of the late 19th century, capturing the fog and the mist in a lyrical fashion. 

Louise’s work brings a contemporary perspective to the same fascination with night. Her paintings offer us journeys through everyday modern life. 

Louise’s paintings evoke a sense of drama and tension, drawing inspiration from moments of “dead time” such as traffic jams or gridlock. She uses the journey as a metaphor, with vehicles pushing through urban streets. Her paintings reflect that sense of isolation and solitude that often accompanies these journeys, while also conveying the underlying stress and complexity of our relationship with urban life and time.

There are many overlaps between the two artists. 

Both artists hint at the dark, foreboding qualities of the night and the lonely melancholy of urban spaces. In Louise’s paintings vehicles are plenty but, like Atkinson Grimshaw paintings figures are rare and anonymous. 

Whilst Atkinson Grimshaw used moonlight and gas light as a device for highlighting the Victorian setting.  Louise uses the glow of streetlights and the burn of vehicles headlights. Moonlight has given way to the piercing glow of halogen headlights.