Annemarie Wright (born 19 July 1979) is an English artist from

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...

. She is best known for her portrait of

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...

created using the handwritten names of fallen British soldiers from

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

, titled ''Their families have been told''. The web page for Wright's portrait of

Stephen Fry Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director and writer. He first came to prominence in the 1980s as one half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring ...

received 8,000 hits in two hours after being mentioned by Fry on Twitter. Wright has exhibited in numerous art shows worldwide since her career began, including the 2013

London Art Fair The London Art Fair (LAF) is an annual contemporary art fair held at the Business Design Centre in Islington, London. Overview The fair displays modern British and contemporary art, from the early 20th century onwards, presented by galleries ...

. Wright held her first Solo exhibition at London's Woolff Gallery in March 2011.

Response from the public

Wright's portrait of Blair caused a great deal of controversy from the parents of the soldiers who died. Carol Jones, mother of 31-year-old sergeant John Jones, who was killed whilst serving in Iraq in 2005, said "I hate Tony Blair and I hold him responsible for my son’s death, but I don’t want his name put on Tony Blair’s face". The Blair portrait is part of a growing collection of handwritten images by Annemarie called "Scandals – art that rocked the world", which also contains a picture of the Twin Towers created using the names of the victims that died in the 9/11 terror attack (which is featured on the 9/11 Memorial Site) and a picture of Michael Jackson made up of child abuse allegations.

Other notable works

In 2012, Wright completed an artwork of

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...

based on public responses to the question, ''What Do you Think of David Cameron ?''. The work was exhibited in Number Nine The Gallery during the Conservative Party Conference 2012, held in October in Birmingham. The work has since been purchased by an unnamed member of the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

, after being exhibited as part of London Art Fair in 2013. In April 2015, Wright featured in the BBC News when

Natalie Bennett Natalie Louise Bennett, Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (born 10 February 1966) is a Australian-British politician and journalist who served as Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales from 2012 to 2016. Bennett was given a peerage in ...

of the

Green Party (UK) The Green Party, also known as the Green Party UK, was a Green political party in the United Kingdom. Prior to 1985 it was called the Ecology Party, and before that PEOPLE. In 1990, it separated into three political parties: * the Green Part ...

unveiled handwritten portraits of herself and other political party leaders David Cameron,

Nick Clegg Sir Nicholas William Peter Clegg (born 7 January 1967) is a British media executive and former Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom who has been president for global affairs at Meta Platforms since 2022, having previously been vicepr ...

Ed Miliband Edward Samuel "Ed" Miliband (born 24 December 1969) is a British politician serving as Shadow Secretary of State for Climate Change and Net Zero since 2021. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Doncaster North since 2005. Miliband ...

and

Nigel Farage Nigel Paul Farage (; born 3 April 1964) is a British broadcaster and former politician who was List of UK Independence Party leaders, Leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) from 2006 to 2009 and 2010 to 2016 and Brexit Party#Leaders, Lea ...

created of public opinions from

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

and other forms of

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

Work in historic venues

Wright's work has hung in the reception of

Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music c ...

. The art features a handwritten list of artists that have recorded at the historic venue. Another of Wright's works, an image of

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...

, created using handwritten quotes, was featured in

Westminster tube station Westminster is a London Underground station in the City of Westminster. It is served by the Circle, District and Jubilee lines. On the Circle and District lines, the station is between St James's Park and Embankment, and on the Jubilee line i ...

as part of an

Art Below Ben Moore (born 25 May 1978)Nick Curtis''London Evening Standard'', 25 May 2010. is a British art curator, entrepreneur and artist. He is the founder and curator of Art Below, a contemporary art organisation that places art in public spaces and ...

exhibition in 2011. Wright's artwork of

Amy Winehouse Amy Jade Winehouse (14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011) was an English singer and songwriter. She was known for her deep, expressive contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres, including soul, rhythm and blues and jazz. A membe ...

was installed in the Adee Phelan salon in Birmingham in 2012. The image is a tribute to Winehouse, using the handwritten song lyrics from the artist's ''Frank'' and ''Back to Black'' albums.

References

External links

Portrait of Tony Blair
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Annemarie 1979 births Living people English contemporary artists Alumni of the University of Wolverhampton People from Cambridgeshire English women artists 21st-century British women artists 20th-century English women 20th-century English people 21st-century English women 21st-century English people