J S PARKER<\/strong>, born 1944, Auckland; died 2017, Blenheim<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John S Parker painted full-time from the time he was awarded the prestigious Frances Hodgkins Fellowship, University of Otago, in 1975, until the year of his death. Apart from some early landscapes and portraits, he always painted abstract works. His paintings are a reflection of his life\u2019s experiences in that they record his responses to his natural surroundings and circumstances. His gift lies in his use of colour, and in the balance he achieves within each painting. Alongside nature, music is Parker\u2019s other source of inspiration and his paintings can bring to mind the interweaving of melody and harmony. He has said that he seeks to extract the essence of the spirit of classical music, and to fix it in his work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parker\u2019s large-scale \u2018Sermon\u2019 series paintings were the result of his reaching an \u2018impasse\u2019 in the 1980s, when he painted the void he felt. On regaining his optimism, he began producing the \u2018Plain Song\u2019 paintings, an on-going series which demonstrate his love of colour harmonies and his acute sense of balance between harmony and tension.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parker is always concerned that the excitement of the process is delivered in his work, yet he believes many people prefer \u2018orderly, tidy works which do not disrupt the spirit or soul\u2019. His has been a quiet presence in New Zealand\u2019s art scene, yet he attracted a steadily growing and devoted pool of buyers over the years. His style of painting has not been particularly \u2018fashionable\u2019 curatorially, but the strength of his work lies in the fact that he does not heed fashion, nor do his paintings depend on the context of New Zealand to be relevant. His work touches a universal chord, and those who buy them rarely part with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2002, Parker was awarded the ONZM in the Queen\u2019s Birthday Honours List in recognition of his services to painting over the previous four decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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GALLERIES<\/strong>
The Diversion Gallery, Marlborough<\/a>
Milford Galleries
<\/a>Artis Gallery, Auckland<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

LINKS<\/strong>
Retrospective exhibition<\/a> at Millenium Art Gallery, Blenheim 2009\/2010 and info on book on Parker\u2019s paintings<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BIBLIOGRAPHY<\/strong>
Stations of the Cross (catalogue), Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth, 1981.
\u2018New Zealand Drawings 1982\u2019 (catalogue), Dunedin Public Art Gallery, 1982.
Art New Zealand 32 \u2018Exhibitions-John Parker\u2019, by Avenal McKinnon, Spring 1984.
New Zealand Painting \u2013 A Modern Perspective, by Elva Bett. Reed Methuen Publishers, Auckland, 1986.
Art New Zealand 67 \u2018Plain Song Journey Through\u2019, by Peter Simpson, 1993.
Contemporary New Zealand Art 2, by Elizabeth Caughey and John Gow. David Bateman Ltd, 2000.
The Food of Art: New Zealand Painters and Their Food, Keith Stewart. Craig Potton Publishing, 2000.
\u2018 J.S. Parker: Plain Song\u2019, by Damian Skinner. Published by Millennium Public Art Gallery, Blenheim, 2009.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

J S PARKER, born 1944, Auckland; died 2017, Blenheim John S Parker painted full-time from the time he was awarded the prestigious Frances Hodgkins Fellowship, University of Otago, in 1975, until the year of his death. Apart from some early landscapes and portraits, he always painted abstract works. His paintings are a reflection of his life\u2019s experiences … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":642,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-618","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artists"],"yoast_head":"\n