I was born in the USA and grew up on the Mexican border in the small farming town of Yuma, Arizona. After studying art at the University of Arizona and the San Francisco Art Institute, I have had the fortune to work as a full time artist for the past thirty years.

Always exploring new cultures for inspiration, I moved to Florence, Italy in 1998 to be influenced by Italy's refined art tradition, refine my drawing skills, and enjoy the Italian lifestyle.

Looking again for a new artistic perspective, I arrived to South Africa in 2008 and began creating series of monumental portraits of artist friends and their African sense of style and dress.

In my art, I try to integrate my interests in optical effects, vertical stripes, and fractured images with my love of pattern and mark making. I use the portraits to explore both my visual interests and to engage with the African continent and appreciate the beauty I experience living here.

​Monumental in scale, Gary Stephens portraits pay homage to the African traditions of hair braiding, hats, headscarves and contemporary urban style. By capturing an ornate braid pattern or the particular angle of a hat viewed from behind, Stephens focuses on the iconic strengths of his models instead of their personal features.

Stephens portrays women in head scarves or men wearing caps to focus attention on the power of these “everyday” symbols of African life. He documents the sense of style and attention people put into how present themselves in a contemporary African setting.

From a visual perspective, he is constantly drawn to patterns, visual rythems, and geometric repetitions such as textile patterns and botanical shapes.

His meticulous technic of drawing in vertical stripes, pleating the paper, and using string screens gives the images a subtle visual vibration and vitality. The portraits seem to shift or dance when viewed from various angles as if capturing a slight movement or breeze instead of being solid or static.

Stephens tramsforms the every day people of his African life into sublimely beautiful beings that radiate an almost mythological sense of Italian classical light. He strives to reflect back the sense of joy he experiences living among a new culture and finding beauty in the people he meets.

​

It began by drawing friends and other artists that I met.  I would snap a few quick photos when I liked their style. Eventually, I began to also hire models and go with them while they got their hair braided or ask them to wear scarves with specific patterns I choose.  Occasionally, when I am feeling brave, I speak with a clerk in a store, or my pharmacist, or a cashier to explain my art and ask if I can make their portrait. Sometimes, we become friends and they call me when they change their hair so I can take more photos and they attend my exhibitions.

If a young African friend comes to show me a photo they have taken with their phone of a special hair style or headscarf, that is the ultimate compliment. I feel my art has affected their way of seeing and helped them notice the beauty in their everyday lives.

Solo Exhibitions

The Phoenix Gallery, San Francisco

Group Exhibitions

2014
​Omenka Gallery, Lagos, Nigeria, London 14, International Art Fair, Booth F9
​Artco Gallery, Aachen Germany. London 14, International Art Fair, Booth H4

2013
​Everard Read Gallery, Sydney Australia, Sydney Contemporary13 art booth
​Everard Read Gallery, Johanneburg Art Fair, Sandton Civic Center
​David Krut, Trees, Newlands, Capetown, SA

2012
​Gallery Momo, Johannesburg, SA, Gallery artists exhibit.

2010
​Spanish Embassy, The World of Cape Town Art, Cape Town, S A

2009
​Greatmore Art Studios, Cape Town, South Africa, members show
​UCA Gallery, Woodstock, South Africa “Portraits”

2006
​L’Albero Celeste, San Gimignano, Italy, “Summer Group Show”

1998
​I. Wolk Gallery, St. Helena, Ca
​Mill Valley Sculture Garden, Mill Valley, Ca
​Mendocino Art Center, Ca, “Ceramic Sculpture: A Fine Arta View”

1997
​Napa Valley College, Ca, “Bay Area Art”

1996
​Irvine Fine Arts Center; Irvine, Ca “Maps, Globes and Charts”

1994
​Anchorage Museum of History & Art, Anchorage, Ak “A World of Maps”

1993
​San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery, “Body Politic”
​Bolinas Museum, Pt. Reyes, Ca “Self Portraits: True Stories”
​University of Arizona, Tucson, Az , “Earth Day Juried Show"

1992
​Faulkirk Cultural Center, San Rafael, Ca, “Shrines” ( Cash Award)

1991
​LA Artcore, Los Angeles,Ca, “8th Juried Exhibition”
​Downey Museum of Art, Ca, “Contemporary Virgins of Guadalupe”
​Dinnerware Artists’ Cooperative, Tucson, AZ, “Biennial Exhibit”
​Nelson Morales Gallery, San Francisco,Ca, “Anti War Signs”

1990
​Arpel Gallery, Santa Barbara, Ca “Juried Exhibition”
​Bolinas Museum, Bolinas, Ca, “Living Artists Program”
​Elaine Horwitch Galleries; Scottsdale, Az, “The Reflected Image”
​Arizona Art Commission Traveling Exhibition, “True Blues”
​Elaine Horwitch Galleries; Sedona, Az

1989
​San Francisco Art Commission Gallery, San Francisco (Curator, Rene Yanez)
​Casa Grande Art Museum, Casa Grande, Az, “Animals”
​San Francisco Art Dealers Association, San Francisco, Ca “Introductions”

1988
​Claudia Chapline Gallery, Stinson Beach, Ca, “New Landscapes”
​Michael Himovitz Gallery, Sacramento, Ca, “Southwest Christmas”
​Yosemite Nat'l. Park, Ca, “Yosemite Renaissance III”

1987
​Michael Ivey Gallery, Los Angeles
​Virginia Breier Gallery, San Francisco

1986
​San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Rental Gallery, San Francisco
​Falkirk Center Annual Juried Show, San Rafael, Ca

1985
​Crocker-Kingsley Museum, Sacramento,Ca, “Annual Exhibit”

​- Yswara Griot, Arts and Culture blog May 5, 2013 “the Magic of Gary Stephens and the Everyday”
​- Omenka Gallery -Gary Stephens, The Ankara Portraits, exhibition catalog 2012 Lagos, Nigeria
​- Mary Ekah -Thisday, The Saturday Newspaper, Lagos Nigeria Oct 20th, 2012
​- “African Urban Lifestyle from the Brush of an American
​- Tajudeen Sowole -Africanartswithtaj, Nigerian art blog, October 2012
​- Ankara Portriats
​- Robyn Sassen - Sunday Times Review, Joihannesburg JUne 5th, 2011
​- “Making Haircuts the Headline Act”
​- Sue Grant Marshell -The Arch, Johannesburg Winter 2011 “Streets Ahead, Hair as Braided Art Form”
​- JoAnne Locktov - The Art of Mosaic Design, Rockport Press, 1998
​- Torri Minton - San Francisco Chronicle, “Too-Human Angel”, Sept. 22, 1994
​- Pascale Le Draoulec- Marin Independent Journal, “Suggestive Art Pulled”, Sept. 20, 1994
​- Margaret Regan- Tucson Weekly, “ the Best of The West”, June 12, 1991
​- Jennifer Crohn- San Francisco Bay Guardian, “Art Against War”, March 13, 1991
​- Tyson Underwood- Pacific Sun, “Colorful Ceramic Animal Fantasies”, June 8, 1990
​- Anna McClain- In Marin, “No Attitude, Gary Stephens Paints Happy”, June, 1990
​- Michele Cohen- Yuma Daily Sun, “Yuma Bred Artist Tickles Visual Pallet”, January 11,1990
​- Phyllis Bragdon- Marin Independent Journal, “Falkirk Annual”, Sept. 5, 1989
​- David Mitchell- Point Reyes Light, "Sparsely Sage and Timely", June 29, 1989
​- Jim Scanlon- Coastal Post, “Socko Stinson Art Show”, June 26, 1989
​- Jennifer Merin- Los Angeles Times, “Sedona: Art Scene”, June ,1988
​- David Hale- Fresno Metropolitan Art Report, “Yosemite Renaissance III”, Summer, 1988

Private & public collections

​James Makamba — London, UK
​Dumisane Phakate — Johannesburg, SA
​Mpho Diale — Johannesburg, SA
​Malungelo Zilimbola — Johannesburg, SA
​Acha Leke — Johannesburg, SA
​Rand Merchant Bank — Johannesburg, SA
​Kgomotso Monnakgotla — Johannesburg, SA
​Bowman Gilfillan — Johannesburg, SA
​Oakland Museum — Oakland, USA
​Chip Conley, Joie de Vivre Hotels — San Francisco, USA
​Carlos Santana — San Francisco, USA
​Phoenix Hotel — San Francisco, USA
​Commodore Hotel — San Francisco, USA
​Casa Del Mar — Stinson Beach, USA
​Qasr Al Sarab Hotel — Abu Dhabi, UAE
​Roberto & Eva Cavalli — Florence, Italy
​Guido Ciompi, Architect — Florence, Italy
​Pietro Marani, Curator — Milan, Italy
​Roselyne C. Swig, Artsource — San Francisco, USA
​Joan Shain, Art Options — San Francisco, USA
​Sina Hotels — Venice, Italy