Stanley Keith Peskett was born in Epsom, Surrey, England in 1939. His
father Stanley Roland Peskett was an exceptionally talented amateur artist
and encouraged Stanley Keith to draw and paint at an early age. This enabled
him to win a junior art award to study art and design full time at the
age of thirteen at Epsom School of Art. He studied drawing painting and
ceramics and completed the intermediate course in 1956. In 1958 he was
awarded full maintenance grant to study at Guildford College of Art. He
spent some of his time out of college playing solo jazz and blues piano
in London and Margate Kent entertaining GI’s.
In Stan’s first term at Guildford College he met Derek Boshier a
classmate, Boshier encouraged the artist to try for entry to the Royal
College of Art where Boshier himself had been accepted. Peskett was successful
in getting a scholarship to the Royal College in 1960 when he graduated
from Guildford. Peskett spent the early sixties studying with Boshier,
David Hockney and Patrick Caulfied. He graduated with an honors degree
from the Royal College of art and was awarded an Abbey Scholarship enabling
him to travel to Italy in 1963. An artist in residency/fellowship followed
at Bradford College of Art from 1963-64. He also had his first solo show
at the local museum/art gallery, Cartwright Hall, in 1964. In the catalogue
Bryan Robertson (Whitechapel Gallery London) wrote: “Stanley Peskett
is one of the best young painters on the London scene……….”
Stan’s interest in murals and monumental scale art started in 1966,
when he exhibited a 40ft canvas at the Royal Institute Gallery in Piccadilly
London. This eventually led him in the direction of installation art.
From 1967 he painted murals for commercial and residential interiors including
an Alice in Wonderland Fantasy for Julie Christie and in 1970, was invited
to create a giant installation (total house style) for the original Fiorucci
Store in Milan Italy. Lena Wertmuller used it in her 1974 movie “All
screwed up”. It was later cloned in 1979 by Italian designer Ettore
Sotass for Fiorucci’s New York Store.
In !974 Peskett set up a loft and workspace with English ex employee William
Waldron, in Soho New York, where he continued to create a diverse range
of installations and murals that led him to become a player in the New
York Art World, being the first person in 1978-79 to promote Jean Michel
Basquiat, Lee Quinones, and Ramelzee (see: The Guy) . He was represented
by art dealer Guillaume Gallozzi who was exposed to British War Art by
Peskett. A two year break from New York to San Francisco 1982-84 enabled
the artist to team up with the Rock Band ‘Tubes’ member’s
Prairie Prince and Mike Cotton, they worked together on sets and promo
music videos as well as a satirical ‘Theoretical Theme Park’
entitled Themeworld and exhibited it in San Francisco and New York galleries
1982 -83. Peskett continued to exhibit with Guillaume throughout the eighties
until he returned to the UK in 1989. He then worked for eighteen months
on New Era’s Television news production service a division of BSB,
UK’s first satellite television production facility based in West
London. In 1991 he returned to easel painting and exhibited landscapes.
In 1993 Stan painted with ten local schools a mural of William Blake having
a Vision of Angels in the Peckham and Dulwich section of southeast London,
and instigated more of Public Art projects in the London area, after the
success of this.
Peskett has been living in Virginia and California since his return to
the US in 1999. He has is also collaborating with Prairie Prince and Michael
Cotton and has worked with them on the sets for the Styx and Bette Midler
stage tours 2003-4. He is currently mural/easel painting and teaching
in San Francisco and Mendocino County, California.
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