Since the 1970’s Mary Grigoriadis, an early figure in the Pattern and Decoration Movement, has created secular icons that are luscious in both color and texture. She applies layer upon layer of oil paint to build up a sumptuous, glowing surface of pronounced brushstrokes. “Just as Josef Albers investigated color relationships using squares within squares, Grigoriadis explores the interaction of patterns using a bilaterally symmetrical format of frames within frames,” (Hayden Herrera, Art in America) in her earliest works in the exhibition. These works incorporate poly-ethnic borders using sources as diverse as Byzantine icons, Native American fabrics and Islamic architecture. Rooted in her personal background, the paintings also explore the use of pattern in various art historical moments and in women’s crafts from western and nonwestern cultures. The works from the 1980’s expand on related themes but break free from the previous system of organization, as undulating forms take over the large canvases. Overall, the works in Stokescapes, exemplify Grigoriadis's unconventional use of materials and imagery, which caught the attention of reviewers as early as the mid-seventies, at the very inception of the Pattern and Decoration Movement.

Mary Grigoriadis ’s work has been reviewed in Art in America, Artforum, Arts Magazine, ARTNews and The New York Times, among other publications. She has exhibited in venues including: The Whitney Museum of American Art, NY; the Brooklyn Museum, NY; the Aldrich Museum, CT; the Queens Museum, NY; the U.S. Embassies in Belgrade, Pretoria, Cape Town and Athens; the Museum of Contemporary Art in Thessaloniki, Greece; the Kresge Art Museum, MI; The Bronx Museum, NY; and The American Academy of Arts and Letters, NY. Her work is included in numerous public collections: The Virginia Museum of Fine Art, VA; the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at MSU, MI; the Chase Manhattan Bank Art Collection, NY; the Parrish Art Museum, NY; the U.S. Embassy Annex in Athens; the Vorres Museum, Greece; the Derfner Museum, NY, the Guild Hall Museum, NY; the Smithsonian Museum, Washington, DC; and the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC. In 1972 Grigoriadis was a founding member of A.I.R. Gallery, the first gallery for women artists in the United States. She lives and works in New York City.