Bernadette
June 4 – July 31, 2026

Ortuzar is pleased to present “Bernadette,” a solo exhibition of new works on paper and paintings by the artist Donna Huddleston (b. 1970). Huddleston’s practice draws on her background in theater and film, creating intricately detailed scenes whose ethereal, otherworldly qualities belie the precision of their execution. This is Huddleston’s first exhibition in the United States.

Huddleston’s work is defined by its complex worldbuilding and enigmatic narratives, combining elements of classical portraiture, cinema, theater, and popular culture. Executed with meticulous detail in Caran d’Ache, graphite, acrylic, pigment and oil paint, her compositions combine the dramatic poise of film-stills with intense psychological presence. 

“The subjects of my work come from multiple sources that are both specific and abstract,” says Huddleston, “I am drawn to theatrical and cinematic motifs. People who look like actors in character. Places that look like locations of sets. But other elements intrude. These might be spiritual, ceremonial, or supernatural. Or they might be emblematic of private thoughts or unknown feelings. It is never literal. There is no formula. Process, form, medium, and touch are fundamental.”

Huddleston finds affinity with Tennessee Williams’s production notes for The Glass Menagerie (1945), in particular his statement: “The scene is memory and is therefore non-realistic. Memory takes a lot of poetic license. It omits some details; others are exaggerated, according to the emotional value of the articles it touches, for memory is seated predominantly in the heart.”

Donna Huddleston (b. 1970, Belfast, Northern Ireland) lives and works in London. Raised in Australia, Huddleston studied art at The National Art School and theater design at The National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in Sydney. After her studies, Huddleston entered the film industry, working with a costume designer before returning to art making. In the early 2000s, she relocated to London, where she exhibited her first drawings in 2005. She is a recipient of the 2020 Paul Hamlyn Foundation Award. Huddleston has been the subject of solo exhibitions at White Cube, London (2024); Simon Lee Gallery, London (2022); Drawing Room, London (2020); Charles Asprey, London (2019); and Sadler's Wells, London (2013). She has been included in recent group exhibitions at Sadie Coles HQ, London (2026); Drawing Room, London (2026); Swedenborg House, London (2025); The Approach, London (2023); Monash University Museum of Art, Melbourne, Australia (2023); Simon Lee, London (2023); Provinz Showroom, Bochum, Germany (2021); Mackintosh Lane, London (2019) and Stephen Friedman, London (2019). Her works are held in public collections including The British Art Council, London, The UBS Art Collection, New York, and Suomenlinna Collection, Helsinki, Finland.