Stephen Namara (born 1953) is an African-American artist and figurative painter. He lives and works in San Francisco and has been at Hunters Point Shipyard since 1985. At about the same time he began exhibiting at Haines Gallery and has shown annually at various galleries in the United States since 1988. Over the course of his artistic career, Namara has held over 50 solo exhibitions and over 70 group shows.
“Firstly, drawing is fundamental to everything I do as an artist, it is a process through which I explore and develop ideas. Second, the nature and character of the materials I use, in particular dry pigments, water, oil, and the white surface of the paper, play a significant role in my art practice. And I should add that I believe my work is better understood through looking at it than through anything I might write or say. It is my aspiration to create work that might linger on afterwards as an enigmatic moment for the viewer”
