#ArtAppreciation: African Traditions Of Hair-Braiding, Hats, Headscarves And Contemporary Urban Style


By Joburg Post


Born in the Mexican border town of Yuma, Arizona, Gary Stephens arrived in South Africa in 2008.
 
He studied painting and drawing at the University of Arizona and the San Francisco Art Instiutute. For the past thirty years, he has worked as an artist and traveled extensively in Latin America, Asia, Europe, and now Africa for inspiration.

 Before moving to South Africa, he lived and worked in Florence, Italy for nine years and refined his current drawing style. In 2009, he did a year long residency at Greatmore Studios in Cape Town. His work is in public and private collections in the US, Europe and the Middle East.

GARY STEPHENS, THE STRAW HAT, 2017 CHALK PASTEL ON FOLDED PAPER WITH STRING SYSTEM, 52 x 52 1/4 in. (132 x 133 cm) CONT SA AC46447


Monumental in scale, Gary Stephens portraits pay homage to the African traditions of hair-braiding, hats, headscarves and contemporary urban style.

The drawings capturing a view from behind, focus on the iconic power of a subject’s hair or hat instead of their specific facial features. Stephens portrays women in head scarves or men wearing caps to focus attention on the power of these “everyday” symbols of African life.


GARY STEPHENS, BRAIDS WITH FAN PALM AND DROP EARRINGS, 2017 CHARCOAL ON FOLDED PAPER WITH STRING SYSTEM, 66 1/2 x 66 1/2 in. (169 x 169 cm) CONT SA AC46569


He documents the sense of style and attention people put into how present themselves in a contemporary African setting.


GARY STEPHENS, LETICIA WITH BOW SCARF, 2017 CHALK PASTEL ON PAPER, 61 x 44 3/8 in. (155 x 113 cm) CONT SA AC46557


From a visual perspective, he is constantly drawn to patterns and visual rhythms, such as geometric repetitions, textile patterns, or botanical shapes. He is attracted to non-verbal, hypnotic visual experiences and chooses his subjects for their stripes and textures. He creates patterns underneath the images that randomly break though and energize the image.

Everard Read

-JP

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African Art

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