A Whitby artist is exhibiting her work in the town’s art gallery for the first time, alongside a life-time of work by her late husband which has never been shown before.
Anne Moses has won competitions and sells work at some of the most renowned galleries in the country, and this month, art fans can see her work in the Pannett Art Gallery, where she also volunteers.
“Anne Moses & Stephen Moses – A Closer View” runs until the end of August.
She chose all the pieces, prepared, mounted and arranged them in the gallery herself, in what she says was an “emotional and cathartic” process.
The couple met when Anne was 16-years-old and they were both studying at Middlesbrough Art College.
They have both had life-long careers as artists, alongside 25 years of teaching an art and design access to higher education course at Stockton Riverside College for disadvantaged adults and people looking to return to mainstream education.
Anne only started showing her own work eight years ago and encouraged Steve to show his, but he died two years ago, before he ever got around to it.
She explained: “Steve was a fantastic artist and just wanted to produce his own work. I met him when I was 16 and he taught me everything I know, even though I went to university.
“He was my greatest teacher and mentor. I used to nag at him to get his work out. He would encourage and support me doing it, but he wasn’t bothered about that side of it.
“He was just starting to think about it, but as always, it was too late. That is why it has been great for me to be able to show his work, especially in our own town and the wonderful gallery that Pannett is.”
Anne works primarily in oil on canvas. She is inspired by people and uses photographs, which she digitally crops, to produce close up paintings.
Steve’s work – in watercolours, oil and charcoal drawings – was based on the idea of surveillance in society and invasion of privacy.
“His work was far more intelligent than mine”, says Anne. “It was really hard to pick his pieces. He was quite private and particular about what he wanted so I did feel a big responsibility in selecting things I knew he would be okay with.
“It was very emotional to see his pieces up there, I was offered help but wanted to do it on my own. It felt like a cathartic process.”
In 2022, Anne won the New Artist Finalist in collaboration with the Saatchi Gallery, in 2023 she became the London Art Biennale Award Winner, and in 2024 she was the Winner of Women in Art Prize.
Her work was also taken by several galleries and you can now find Anne’s work at the Moosey Gallery in Norwich, Stephensons in York and the Women in Art Marketplace in London.
