Stephen Namara

The Evolution of a Portrait, no. 2

2024

Stephen Namara is an American Contemporary figurative artist born in 1953. He is known for creating skillful drawings and paintings of people, still-life objects and contemporary landscapes and has been exhibiting in the U.S. since 1980 while evolving his unique style. His masterful drawing abilities, together with his involved research into his subjects, have enabled Namara to produce a highly acclaimed body of work that is held in major corporate, state and university collections, and he is the recipient of numerous, important drawing prizes. Namara’s images are often autobiographical snapshots of moments in his life, and they speak directly to viewers without the need for words. The work provides space within which we can experience our own mental and emotional reactions to the images, forms and movements, without the need for academic explanation. The non-narrative imagery that he employs enables our attention to dwell on the formal and material aspects of the art, and this encourages a reflective approach to our perceptions.