Curator Michelle Bello is pleased to announce an installation of works by Stephanie Peek entitled Uniform Language, on view now through April 19, 2019, at Sloan Miyasato Fine Art in San Francisco.

In Uniform Language San Francisco based artist Stephanie Peek reclaims various patterns of concealment by recontextualizing the camouflage of troubled countries. With this single grouping of 45 oil paintings on alabaster-gessoed panels, Peek intends to transform these patterns from their military usage to a more peaceful purpose.

Each painting offers viewers a striking abstraction of patterns, leaving them unaware that they are also viewing close-ups of an overall pattern appropriated from military camouflage. Although Peek takes artistic license, they nonetheless reveal the individuality underlying each country’s original design. At first glance, these paintings also appear markedly different from Peek’s signature paintings of flowers and gardens. But, as one looks closely, one sees that all her work is about the perception of the natural environment–from content to pattern, realism to abstraction.

Above: Stephanie Peek, Uniform Language, 2001-2018 (Installation View)
Oil on Alabaster-Gessoed Panel, 10 x 10 Inches Each

North Korea

USA (Night Operations)

Iraq (Suicide Commando)

Iran (Night Song)

Zaire

Afghanistan

For this series Peek researched the design history and spread of camouflage. She says, “Early in the 20th century, the United States military adapted the nature studies of American painter Abbot Thayer to conceal ships, weapons, and soldiers. Since then, governments throughout the world have hired artists and designers to create camouflage specific to the variety of environments and climates in which they operate. When seen together, these patterns strikingly represent the vast diversity of our natural and man-made environments.”

Peek began painting camouflage patterns in response to 9/11. More recently, political events have caused her to revisit and expand upon that work to create these panels. In the context of today’s political climate, the concept of camouflage reminds us of how political language and action can literally and figuratively conceal threats to our basic human and democratic rights. In this body of work, she suggests that the creation of an enemy is itself an abstraction, and asks us to consider that there may be a deeper pattern uniting us all.

Stephanie Peek, Uniform Language, 2001-2017 (Installation View)
Oil on Alabaster-Gessoed Panel, 10 x 10 Inches Each

Stephanie Peek, Uniform Language, 2001-2017 (Installation View)
Left to Right, Top to Bottom: USA (Chocolate Chip), USA (Desert), Palestine, Lithuania, Sudan, Cuba
Oil on Alabaster-Gessoed Panel, 10 x 10 Inches Each

Stephanie Peek, Uniform Language, 2001-2017 (Installation View)
Left to Right, Top to Bottom: Israel, Russia, Zimbabwe, Iraq (Suicide Commando), Mexico, USA (Allover)
Oil on Alabaster-Gessoed Panel, 10 x 10 Inches Each

Artist Stephanie Peek – Frank Wing Photography

Peek graduated with an MFA in painting from the University of California, Berkeley and a BA in Art History from Wellesley College, Boston. Her work shows regularly in galleries and museums nationally and internationally including the University of California, Berkeley, University of California, San Diego, and the Museo Italo-Americano in San Francisco, the Oakland Museum of California, and the Contemporary Museum of Art in Prato, Italy and is in private collections worldwide. Awards and honors include Visiting Artist at the American Academy in Rome, Borso di Studio in Florence, Italy, J. Ruth Kelsey Travel Grant, Susan B. Irwin Scholarship in the Visual Arts, Virginia McPheter-Stoltz Fellowship, and she has been nominated twice for the SECA award at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Other Available Works by Stephanie Peek at Sloan Miyasato

Stephanie Peek, Falling Leaves, 2005, Oil on Linen, 60 x 56 Inches – After an artist’s residency in Florence, Italy, Peek attempted some ambitious paintings of ornate gardens. In trying to simplify the abundance of eye-dazzling flora before her, she painted the pivotal Falling Leaves which led her half-way down the path to painting her camouflage series.

Stephanie Peek, Tulipmania, 2013, Oil on Canvas, 45 x 45 Inches

Stephanie Peek, Midnight Forest, 2017, Oil on Canvas, 70 x 52 Inches

Sloan Miyasato Fine Art

Located in the heart of San Francisco’s vibrant design and art district, Sloan Miyasato is a premier destination for distinctive custom furnishings and fine art. For the past 40 years this venerable showroom has offered a portfolio of international furnishings that embodies innovation, excellence, and style, securing its place among the elite sources on the West Coast.

In 1997 independent art advisor Michelle Bello pioneered the first art program to be independently curated inside the San Francisco Design Center, and Sloan Miyasato devoted their galleries as much to contemporary fine art as furnishings. With more than 25 years of professional art market expertise, and as a former director of two San Francisco galleries and longtime art advisor, Bello saw a need to bring fine art directly into the design center, making acquiring art more convenient for busy design professionals and their clients. This venue also offers a user-friendly alternative to the white walls of art galleries, helping collectors more easily envision art in their homes or other environments.