In Kentucky, you will find horses as a subject in the work of many artists. It seems particularly inevitable for painters. Perhaps it is the power and speed, or the movement even in more relaxed moments, that draws them. For Monica Barnett, it seems to be all of these things.
“I have been an artist my entire life, and while I have focused on animals in my drawings and paintings, my work is centered on horses.”
In one image we have an anatomical study suitable for a veterinary text, and in another, the equine forms are highly stylized as figures on a spectral carousel, uneasily situated in an undetermined fantasy space that elicits the opposite of the expected reaction to a child on a carnival ride. The subjective use of color even lends the human child in the image a slightly sinister aspect.
Barnett was for many years a Part-time Staff Artist at The Courier-Journal and Louisville Times, where she created drawings, maps, and charts for daily news articles and was a page designer for all feature sections, The Saturday Scene, and the Sunday Magazine.
In March of 2019 Barnett was in the Huber Farm Winery Art and Wine "Stella di Luce" Show; in May she was in the Mother's Day Spring Art Show at Mellwood Art & Entertainment Center; and early March through late May she had a drawing in a juried show in Lexington at the Living Arts and Sciences Center.
Like many artists, Monica Barnett has studied and worked in various mediums throughout her career, but sometimes it is important to get back to basics.
“Recently, I have concentrated on drawing,” explains Barnett, ”specifically in graphite. My subjects: horses. I draw with a passion I hope is shown in the forms I create.”
In the quality of the drawings we find a blend of near scientific observation – in Barnett’s detailed examination of the musculature, with an idealized, almost romantic perspective – the animals are most often captured in motion, the mane extended. It is a point-of-view not unusual for an equine artist, especially one born and bred in Kentucky.
Barnett does not restrict her choice of subjects to the thoroughbreds that are part of the identity of the Bluegrass State, her portfolio includes horses from France, Belgium, Wales, Austria, Saudi Arabia, Portugal, Norway, and the Netherlands.
Barnett participated in the 2018 Spring Art Show at Mellwood Art and Entertainment Center in February, and the Stella de Luce Art and Wine Show in March.