Anne Cleary (born 1965 in Tullamore, Ireland) is an installation and video artist.
Work
Cleary and her partner Denis Connolly, both architects by education, are among Ireland's foremost working artists. Their work revolves around visual perception: how we see the world, and especially how we learn from the complex act of looking is central to the work they have made together, often in collaboration with other artists or with scientists and more and more with a strong participatory ethos. Exhibition artworks include the Meta-perceptual Helmets, a series of wearable artworks that transform vision and invite the viewer to become a living artwork, produced with Arts Council (Ireland) support in 2014, and Pourquoi Pas Toi? an interactive exhibition at the Pompidou Centre in 2009. Recent collaborative projects include: a project on art and neuroscience with David Byrne in New York; Self Perceptions, a multi-disciplinary event based project at the Tate Modern in London; and Less than Thirteen, a commission from the Barbican Centre exploring the movements of conductor Sir Simon Rattle. They have produced over twenty permanent public artworks since 2005. Ecological arts practice has emerged as the focal point of their work in recent years with two important public engagement programmes: the Eco Showboat voyage (2022-2023) and Catchments (2025-) exploring Ireland’s rivers as social and environmental condensers. The Eco Showboat project continues on the Seine since 2026 as Le Bateau Soleil.
Publications 2011 - In the Works Gandon Editions, Kinsale. 2009 - Moving Dublin incl. DVD. Gandon Editions, Kinsale. 2007 - Past and Presence incl. DVD. Gandon Editions, Kinsale.
Awards 2009 - AIB Award for Irish artists of exceptional potential. 2005 - EV+A 2005 award. 2003 - Best Documentary Film Prize, Kerry Film Festival. 2000 - Moving Image Award, Cork Film Centre, Cork.
References
External links Preview of the Meta-Perceptual Helmets in The Irish Times, 10 November 2014. Review of The Absent Architect in The Irish Times, 29 May 2013. Centre Pompidou Pourquoi Pas toi? 15 October 2008 - 12 January 2009 Circa 118 Review of Here There Now Then, LCGA, 2006. cityloops.net Moving Dublin Project Site. connolly-cleary.com presenting videos, texts and photos by the artists.