Stephanie Deady (b.1990) lives and works in Dublin, Ireland.
Historically, in western painting, there is an art of drama and spectacle, and there is an art of quietness. The extrovert and the introvert. Stirring, dramatic events and moments of inner revelation. Stephanie Deady’s work is aligned with the latter, with interior life. As the art of painting developed in Europe, for a time spectacle seemed to gain the upper hand: with mannerism, the baroque and rococo, things got quite turbulent. But a more restrained mode of expression has always been there. It was especially evident among the painters of the early Renaissance, for example.
In their work, one often finds that crucial moments and events, usually of biblical and religious significance, hinge on the implicit, intimate exchange of information between central figures. In Simone Martini’s golden, radiant, early 14th century Annunciation, made for Siena Cathedral, a stream of words spelled out in a straight line - Ave gratia plena dominos tecum (May the grace of god be with you) - occupies the yawning central space between the angel and the virgin, flanked by saints Margaret and Ansanus.
Previously, Stephanie Deady’s work has focused largely on spaces: domestic and functional interiors, with a strong feeling of habitation though few specifically figurative elements. These environments were charged with a degree of uncertainty, slightly unmoored, reflecting the inevitably fallible processes involved in vision, cognition and memory. Yet while the work was in some respects quite formally austere, there was consistently a resolute core of emotional warmth.
Extract from text by Aidan Dunne.
Stephanie Deady, lives and works in Limerick. Upcoming exhibitions include
BOW, Curated by Sarah Searson, Limerick City Gallery of Art (2025), ABSTRACT PAINTING, Kevin Kavanagh, Dublin (2025), Solo Exhibition, Kevin Kavanagh, Dublin (2025).
Recent group and solo exhibitions include Magic and Loss, Kevin Kavanagh, Dublin (2024), Measure for Measure, Art House Laois (2024), Hennessy Craig, Ryan Gallery RHA, Dublin (2024), ANSEO, Art House Laois (2023), Boyle Arts Festival (2023), RHA Annual Exhibition, Dublin (2023), Measure for Measure, Solo Exhibition, Kevin Kavanagh, Dublin (2022), The Pleasure Ground, Rathfarham Castle (2022), SILVER, Kevin Kavanagh, Dublin (2019), Hennessy Craig Award, Shortlisted Group Show, RHA Dublin (2019), Make Haste Slowly, Goeth-Institut Irland, Dublin (2018), Island Life, Kevin Kavanagh, Dublin (2018), Primed Vision, Solo Exhibition, Kevin Kavanagh, Dublin (2018), An Act of Hospitality can only be Poetic, Highlanes Gallery, Drogheda curated by Linda Shevlin and Aoife Ruane (2018).
Stephanie was the recipient of The Hennessy Craig Award (2024) and The Claremorris Gallery Award, Ballinglen First Biennial (2023) and The Fergus Ahearn Award, Boyle Arts Festival (2023).