About Mark Stanley-Bey (Stan-Bey)

Artist for Arthur Longworth’s Portrait

Artist Statement
My name is Mark Stanley-Bey, but I prefer to be called Stan-Bey. I am an artist who has continued my work since my incarceration. My mantra is, “I love all things art.” I agree with a fellow artist who said that as artists we are indestructible regardless of our surroundings, whether they be in prison or in a concentration camp. I am almighty in my own world of art. 

I’ve just finished a children’s book illustration of twenty-three pages including cover art in collaboration with a law student. The book is titled, “Visiting Mom.” It is about a young girl who visits her mom in prison for the first time and finds it very stressful and intimidating—as any child would. 

The inspiration for my recent work comes from reading steampunk graphic novels about the contributions of Africa and specifically Egypt. I aim to convey the African American’s journey during the industrial era, considering the many functional devices that made production easier and more profitable. I work in watercolor, color pencil, lead pencil, Micron/Technia pens, and dipping ink for my stippling technique. I learned this stippling technique and watercolor process through a fellow incarcerated man who was an art teacher from Ohio. This teaching gave me the incentive to better myself as a person and as an artist for the art world inside and outside of prison. 

Artist Bio 
Mark Stanley-Bey, aka Stan-Bey, was born in Chicago, Illinois, in the late 1950s, then moved to California with his family where he grew up. He is a veteran who served in the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam conflict. Stan-Bey has been inspired by and involved in art much of his life. In 1995, after studying graphic illustration at Los Angeles Trade Tech, he was hired by Subia, Inc.—a graphics company—where he did graphic designs for Subia’s clients, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Lockheed, and other government agencies. His artwork has been featured in several exhibitions including Meet us Quickly with Your Mercy: Painting for Justice at the Museum of the African Diaspora.

Read more about Stan-Bey, San Quentin News, Steampunk Styling.