Annemarie Stanley

Annemarie Stanley was born in New York, where she lived until her teens, she then moved to Ireland with her family. Annemarie now lives in Cork city where she has her studio. Annemarie was educated at University College Cork and the Crawford College of Art.

Annemarie worked as an English, Art and History teacher until she left teaching to pursue a career as a professional artist. Annemarie’s practice is in contemporary figurative, portrait and landscape painting.

It’s been written that Annemarie Stanley’s paintings present the viewer with a glimpse of an intimate, private and uncertain world. Childhood and memories, motherhood and family, innocence and transience are all themes in her work. These are quiet works. Intimate paintings of figures lost in their lives. The world of the paintings suggests a dream world, both real and unreal. Annemarie depict situations which may suggest narratives of myth or imagination. She tries not to explain anything in the works, preferring instead to leave it open ended. Where is the child going, what is the boy looking towards? Perhaps the figures are experiencing a decision or conflict in their lives? Does the world of these paintings ever al-low for resolution? Or are darkness and uncertainty ever present?

Annemarie Stanley’s paintings are worked loosely, with areas of evident brushstroke and luminous colour while other parts are left barely touched. Every painting session explores the fall and depiction of light on form. Annemarie works quickly but will often work on a piece for a long time until she feels that there is a resolution within the painting.

Mirrors and reflections are a motif in Annemarie Stanley’s work.  The image of the mother and child is also a recurring one. Other works include a series of paintings centred around the writings of Samuel Becket. These are now in a private collection in the Unites States.

Most recently Annemarie has returned to working on a series of paintings centred around childhood. Animals and birds appear in these works, harbingers of change or destiny, the transient and the eternal. It is a constant and fascinating pursuit.

Annemarie Stanley has exhibited widely in Galleries and Museums throughout Ireland and most recently in Munich, Germany.

Annemarie’s work is in both public and private collections in Ireland, England, Germany, Croatia and the United States.