Darcy Whent (b. 2002, Wales) is a painter based in Bristol, UK. She completed a BA in Fine Art at Bath School of Art and is currently based at Pennywell Studios, Bristol. Whent’s practice explores memory, motherhood, and identity through figurative and narrative painting, using autofiction to rework personal and collective histories. Through recurring motifs of domestic space, animals, and the female figure, Whent constructs psychologically charged worlds that sit between childhood and adulthood, truth and invention.
Solo exhibitions include (Upcoming) Twilight Contemporary, December (2026); Soft Bodies, Hard Frames, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, West Palm Beach, USA (2026); Tell Tales, Centre Space, UK (2025); Becoming Feral, Mother Rugger, Brentford, UK (2025).
Group exhibitions include Tainted Love, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, London, UK (2026); Unbridled: Horsin’ Around, Latitude Gallery, New York, USA (2026); Table Manners, Hashimoto Contemporary, San Francisco, USA (2026); WePresent Spring Show, Copeland Park & Bussey Building, London, UK (2026); Britain’s Got Talent, Shug Gallery Norwich; Pet Shop, Harsh Collective, Brooklyn, NY, USA (2025); Delphian Gallery Group Exhibition, Delphian Gallery, London, UK (2025); Ingram Prize Exhibition, UK (2025); The House We Built, The Mount Without, Bristol, UK (2025); Spike Island Associates Open, Spike Island, Bristol, UK (2024); Emerge Showcase, Bath School of Art, Bath, UK (2023).
Highlights and Collections
In 2026 Darcy Whent won the Fenton Arts Trust Award, was shortlisted for the Hopper Prize and was named as WGSN Artist to watch. She is also the winner of the Delphian Gallery Open Call (2025) and a finalist for the Ingram Prize (2025). In the same year, she was shortlisted for the Homiens Prize and the ACS Studio Prize. Whent was longlisted for the Freelands Painting Prize in 2023 and has participated in residencies including This House Residency (October, UK), Hugo Burge Foundation Residency (Scotland, UK), Steria Artist House (Roseto Valfortore, Italy) and Emerge Residency (Bath, UK).