Mariana Horgan (b. 1985, Lisbon) is a Portuguese artist working in abstract painting, sculpture, and monotype. She studied at Ar.Co – Centro de Arte e Comunicação Visual in Lisbon (2019) and completed Painting and Relief Printing at the Art Academy in London (2022). Her work spans large and medium-scale canvases and works on paper, building layered surfaces with acrylic, powdered pigment, and washes, often incorporating materials such as ash, soil, graphite, charcoal, and fabric fragments. Her muted palette, punctuated by moments of chromatic intensity, reflects a tension between gesture and revision, control and improvisation. Rooted in the legacy of Abstract Expressionism, her work channels its emotional immediacy through a contemplative lens — echoing the restrained, memory-laden gestures of Cy Twombly.
About
My artistic practice is a combination of painting, drawing, sculpting, collage, and elementary engraving techniques such as monoprint and woodcut. Always looking for beauty in the unconventional and with a keen interest in recycling waste, don´t be surprised to find me digging through rubbish on construction sites or "treasure hunting" at the beach for objects and materials that catch my eye and meet some of my ideas.I draw most of my inspiration from everyday life, people and nature ; but my earlier experiences in life, childhood memories, loss, and a consequent "joie de vivre" that coexists with a certain melancholy also tend to appear in many of my abstract paintings. Making the most of the colour and texture of the materials, in this game of “hide and seek” that characterises my practice, the artworks often provoke in those who see them a certain sense of calm, peace and light; even though the under layers of most is the chaos of the emotional storms natural to human experience.
EDUCATION
- 2022, PortraitPainting Masterclass with Tim Benson – The Art Academy, London
- 2022, Relief Printing with Jackie Smith– The Art Academy, London
- 2019/2021, Painting full program at Ar.Co - Centro de arte & Comunicação visual
- 2019, Oil Painting Course at St. Julian’s School
- 2019, Life Sculpture Course at St. Julian’s School
- 2018, Life drawing lessons at St. Julian’s School
- 2007/8, Life drawing lessons at Faculdade de Belas Artes de Lisboa
- 2007, Territorial Management 1st semester at NOVA Universidade de Lisboa
- 2006, Dirección de Empresas, ERASMUS, at Universidade Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid
- 2002/6, Marketing Management at IPAM - Marketing School for Business
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
- 2025, PRIMEIRO GESTO, Galeria Belard, Lisbon
- 2023, RECOLLECTION solo show, Galeria Belard, Lisbon
- 2021, “MOONWALK”, solo show, Palácio Chiado, Lisbon
- 2020, “PULL THROUGH ISOLATION”, Lisbon
- 2019, “MAR”, Casa Oliveiras, Lisbon
- 2019, “O Condão de ser pequenino”, Biblioteca Arquitecto Cosmelli Santana, Lisbon
COLLECTIVE EXHIBITIONS
- 2025 Girls just wanna have fun, goup show, Movart Gallery, Lisbon
- 2025, QUINTA ESSÊNCIA Collective Exhibition, SNBA, Lisbon
- 2025 SALON, O PRIMEIRO by Subjektiv, Art Room, Lisbon
- 2024, Subjektiv Collective Show, ArtVerse, Paris
- 2024, 2.0 collective show, Galeria Belard, Lisbon
- 2024, PRE[VIEW], Galeria Belard, Lisbon
- 2023, Exposição Solidária 2023 Associação QUINTA ESSÊNCIA, Colectivo 284, Lisbon
- 2022, PRELÚDIO collective show, Galeria Belard, Lisbon
- 2022, EXPOSIÇÃO SOLIDÁRIA Associação QUINTA ESSÊNCIA, Colectivo 284, Lisbon
- 2022, QDM22 Group show and auction, Faculdade de Arquitetura da Universidade do Porto, Oporto
- 2021, CAPITI “Dar luz a esta causa” auction/group show, Museu da Eletricidade, Lisbon
- 2021, “Ar.Co Exposição de Outono 2021”, group show, Almada, Portugal
- 2020, “Exposição de Outono”, collective show, Ar.Co, Portugal
COLLECTIONS
- PLMJ Collection
AWARDS AND PRIZES
- Nomination for the Sovereign Art Prize 2026
PRESS
- Catching art’s new wave in Lisbon, Art Basel, 2025
ART RESIDENCIES
- 2020, Bombu Minino social cultural project and Bento Oliveira´s Studio, São Vicente, Cabo Verde