ARTIST STATEMENT
I am drawn to the sculptural qualities, design and textures of ordinary materials used to create art -- pencils, erasers and pastel sticks. Featuring these as models themselves and magnifying their scale expresses everyday beauty that may otherwise be overlooked.
ABOUT
Richard Parker’s paintings are exquisitely rendered portraits of ephemeral objects more often used to create artworks than as the content. With a nod to Pop Art, Parker focuses on the most elementary of subjects: the very materials artists use to create their work - pencils, eraser, and pastel sticks.
Parker balances the pristine with a touch of whimsy in his canvases - oversized and almost flawless in their depiction, Parker nonetheless includes the marks of hand sharpening on the pencils and of use in the pastels. Only the erasers are shown in their unused sublime perfection - speaking to that moment before the work begins and when all things feel possible. Defiantly simple and elegant, the paintings are formal in their geometry yet masterfully playful in their content and scale.
I am drawn to the sculptural qualities, design and textures of ordinary materials used to create art -- pencils, erasers and pastel sticks. Featuring these as models themselves and magnifying their scale expresses everyday beauty that may otherwise be overlooked.
ABOUT
Richard Parker’s paintings are exquisitely rendered portraits of ephemeral objects more often used to create artworks than as the content. With a nod to Pop Art, Parker focuses on the most elementary of subjects: the very materials artists use to create their work - pencils, eraser, and pastel sticks.
Parker balances the pristine with a touch of whimsy in his canvases - oversized and almost flawless in their depiction, Parker nonetheless includes the marks of hand sharpening on the pencils and of use in the pastels. Only the erasers are shown in their unused sublime perfection - speaking to that moment before the work begins and when all things feel possible. Defiantly simple and elegant, the paintings are formal in their geometry yet masterfully playful in their content and scale.
RESUME
EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, Master of Fine Arts, 1983.
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS, ARLINGTON, Bachelor of Fine Arts, 1980.
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2023 “Double Take: Magnifying Beauty in the Ordinary,” Billis Williams Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.
2017 “Recent work: Erasers,” Cherry Wood Gallery, San Pedro, CA.
2014 “Richard Parker: Poetic Illusions,” USC Fisher Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA.
2006 “Pastel Sticks,” USC Orange County Gallery, Irvine, CA.
2003 “Richard Parker Unframed: Charcoal and chalk drawings, 1982-2003,” Transport Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.
2002 “A Black and White Affair: New perspectives of the Southern California landscape,” Joseph Gierek Fine Art, Tulsa, OK.
1998 “Pastels and Charcoals,” Perkins and Will, Pasadena, CA. 1996 “Richard Parker: Paintings,” Evelyn Siegel Gallery, Fort Worth, TX.
1994 “Works on Paper,” Strings Gallery, Fort Worth, TX. 1989 “Recent Work, ” Barclay Simpson Fine Arts Gallery, Lafayette, CA.
1988 “Abstractions,” Gallery de Analco, Santa Fe, NM. 1987 “Recent Drawings,” Pacific Grove Art Center, Pacific Grove, CA.
1985 “Recent Work,” Vorpal Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2022 “Objects,” Three person show. George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.
2022 “Brand 50: Annual national Juried Exhibition of Works on Paper,” Brand Library and Art Center, Glendale, CA.
2021 Intergalactic Open 2, ShockBoxx Gallery, Hermosa Beach, CA. 2021 Crocker Kingsley National Art Competition, Roseville, CA. 2020 Texas National 2020 Nacogdoches, TX. 2020 15th Annual Emerald Spring Painting Exhibition, Springfield, OR.
2020 Madeley National, Conroe Art League, Conroe, TX.
2020 25th Arts North International, Hopkins Center for the Arts, Hopkins, MN.
2019 53rd Founders Juried Awards Exhibition, Naples, FL.
2019 Brand 47 National Juried Exhibition of Works on Paper, Brand Library and Art Center, Glendale, CA.
2019 64 ARTS Buchanan Center for the Arts, Monmouth, IL.
2019 ViewPoint 51 Cincinnati Art Club, OH.
2019 All Media
2019 Irvine Fine Arts Center, Irvine, CA. 2019 40th Annual Venice Art Auction, Venice Beach, CA.
2019 TRAHC’s 31st Annual Juried Exhibition, Texarkana, TX.
2019 Texas National Competition & Exhibition 2019, Nacogdoches, TX.
2018 LA Artcore 4th Annual Juried Exhibition, Los Angeles, CA.
2018 Brand 46 National Juried Exhibition of Works on Paper, Brand Library and Art Center, Glendale, CA.
2017 LA Artcore 3rd Annual Art Competition and Exhibition, Los Angeles, CA.
2017 Brand 45 National Juried Exhibition of Works on Paper, Brand Library and Art Center, Glendale, CA.
2013 (Southern) California Drawing, Orange Coast College, Costa Mesa, CA.
2010 “Multiple Universes,” Pasadena City College Art Gallery, Pasadena, CA.
2006 “Then and Now: Highlights from the USC Fisher Gallery collections,” Los Angeles, CA
2004 “Up Close and Impersonal,” Platt Gallery, University of Judaism, Bel Air, CA.
2003 Five-Person Show, ARSG, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA.
2003 Cambridge Art Association National, Cambridge Art Association, Cambridge, MA.
2003 “Peter Frank Selects...,” Don O’Melveny Gallery, West Hollywood, CA
2003 “Just Charcoal,” Works on paper, Fine Arts Gallery, Golden West College, Huntington Beach, CA.
2003 “Electric,” Transport Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.
2002 “Texas National 2002,” The Art Center, Nacogdoches, TX.
2001 “Realism 2001,” The Cultural Center of Fine Arts, Parkersburg, WV.
2001 “Texas National 2001,” The Art Center, Nacogdoches, TX.
2000 “National Landscape Invitational,” Canyon Road Contemporary Art, Santa Fe, NM.
1999 “Gallery 121 Inaugural Exhibition,” Pasadena, CA.
1999 “Cambridge Art Association National Prize Show,” Cambridge, MA.
1998 “1998 Texas and Neighbors Art Competition,” Irving Art Assn, Irving, TX.
1997 “Works on Paper: Recent Drawings, Prints and Photographs” LSU Union Art Gallery, Baton Rouge, LA.
1997 “Gallery Artists,” Evelyn Siegel Gallery, Fort Worth, TX.
1996 “Works On/Of Paper,” Rutgers National ’96, Camden, NJ.
1996 “1996 Texas and Neighbors Art Competition,” Irving Art Association, Irving, TX.
1995 “1995 Critic’s Choice,” Dallas Visual Art Center, Dallas, TX.
1995 “Counter Point,” The 27th Annual National Juried Printmaking, Drawing and Photography Exhibition, Ingram, TX.
1995 Pastel Society of the Southwest, National Open Show, Irving, Texas.
1994 “1994 Stockton National VII,” The Haggin Museum, Stockton, CA.
1994 “Integration, Disintegration, Reintegration?” The Parents Foundation of New Haven, CT.
1993 “Clemson National Print and Drawing Exhibition,” Clemson, SC.
1990 “The Mark,” Security Pacific Gallery, Costa Mesa, CA.
1989 “Visions of Excellence,” Albuquerque United Artists, NM.
1989 “Big and Bold,” Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Art Rental Gallery, CA.
1988 “31st North Dakota Print and Drawing Annual,” North Dakota Museum of Art, Grand Forks, ND.
1987 “Designations,” Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Art Rental Gallery, CA.
1987 North Dakota Print and Drawing Annual, University of North Dakota, ND.
1987 The ASI Achievement Awards, Artists’ Society International, San Francisco, CA.
1987 Mt. San Jacinto Juried Open International Painting Competition, Mt. San Jacinto College, CA.
1986 “The State of the Arts,” Art Rental Gallery, Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
1986 “Pasadena Centennial Art Competition,” Pasadena, CA. 1986 Selected works from Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Designers West, Los Angeles.
1985 “Recent American Works on Paper,” developed for circulation by Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Services.
1985 “Smallworks National ’85,” Zaner Gallery, Rochester, NY.
1984 “Is Beauty the Making One of Opposites?,” Terrain Gallery, New York, NY.
1984 60th Shreveport Art Guild National Exhibition, Meadows Art Museum, LA.
1983 “Newcomers ’83,” Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, CA.
1983 Clemson National Print and Drawing Competition, Clemson University, SC.
1983 “Big and Small,” Terrain Gallery, New York, NY.
1983 “Summer Introductions,” four person show, Koplin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
American Art Collector, April 2023
The Santa Fe New Mexican, “Gallery invites known and emerging artists,” Robert Nott, August 4, 2000.
Pasadena Weekly, “Chalk One Up for Excellence,” November 5-11, 1998.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram, “Parker’s works present light, shadow at play,” Wade Wilson, March 10, 1996.
Dallas/Fort Worth’s Life Style Magazine, “Fort Worth: Where the Art Begins,” Amy Sorter, February, 1996.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram, “A husband-and-wife team with distinctive differences,” Wade Wilson, October 23, 1994.
Gerald F. Brommer, Exploring Drawing, Davis Publications, Worcester, Massachusetts, 1988.
South Pasadena Review, “Suspends Golf Career for Suspended Art Forms,” Norma LeValley, October 7, 1987.
The Sunday Herald, Monterey, California, “Charcoal Chalk Drawings Exhibited in Pacific Grove,” Irene Lagorio, February 8, 1987.
Recent American Works on Paper, exhibition catalogue, Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, 1985.
Los Angeles Times, “Promising Newcomers at the Muni,” Suzanne Muchnic, July 31, 1983.
Gerald F. Brommer and George F. Horn, Art in Your World, Davis Publications, Worcester, MA, 1985.
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, Master of Fine Arts, 1983.
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS, ARLINGTON, Bachelor of Fine Arts, 1980.
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2023 “Double Take: Magnifying Beauty in the Ordinary,” Billis Williams Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.
2017 “Recent work: Erasers,” Cherry Wood Gallery, San Pedro, CA.
2014 “Richard Parker: Poetic Illusions,” USC Fisher Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA.
2006 “Pastel Sticks,” USC Orange County Gallery, Irvine, CA.
2003 “Richard Parker Unframed: Charcoal and chalk drawings, 1982-2003,” Transport Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.
2002 “A Black and White Affair: New perspectives of the Southern California landscape,” Joseph Gierek Fine Art, Tulsa, OK.
1998 “Pastels and Charcoals,” Perkins and Will, Pasadena, CA. 1996 “Richard Parker: Paintings,” Evelyn Siegel Gallery, Fort Worth, TX.
1994 “Works on Paper,” Strings Gallery, Fort Worth, TX. 1989 “Recent Work, ” Barclay Simpson Fine Arts Gallery, Lafayette, CA.
1988 “Abstractions,” Gallery de Analco, Santa Fe, NM. 1987 “Recent Drawings,” Pacific Grove Art Center, Pacific Grove, CA.
1985 “Recent Work,” Vorpal Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2022 “Objects,” Three person show. George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.
2022 “Brand 50: Annual national Juried Exhibition of Works on Paper,” Brand Library and Art Center, Glendale, CA.
2021 Intergalactic Open 2, ShockBoxx Gallery, Hermosa Beach, CA. 2021 Crocker Kingsley National Art Competition, Roseville, CA. 2020 Texas National 2020 Nacogdoches, TX. 2020 15th Annual Emerald Spring Painting Exhibition, Springfield, OR.
2020 Madeley National, Conroe Art League, Conroe, TX.
2020 25th Arts North International, Hopkins Center for the Arts, Hopkins, MN.
2019 53rd Founders Juried Awards Exhibition, Naples, FL.
2019 Brand 47 National Juried Exhibition of Works on Paper, Brand Library and Art Center, Glendale, CA.
2019 64 ARTS Buchanan Center for the Arts, Monmouth, IL.
2019 ViewPoint 51 Cincinnati Art Club, OH.
2019 All Media
2019 Irvine Fine Arts Center, Irvine, CA. 2019 40th Annual Venice Art Auction, Venice Beach, CA.
2019 TRAHC’s 31st Annual Juried Exhibition, Texarkana, TX.
2019 Texas National Competition & Exhibition 2019, Nacogdoches, TX.
2018 LA Artcore 4th Annual Juried Exhibition, Los Angeles, CA.
2018 Brand 46 National Juried Exhibition of Works on Paper, Brand Library and Art Center, Glendale, CA.
2017 LA Artcore 3rd Annual Art Competition and Exhibition, Los Angeles, CA.
2017 Brand 45 National Juried Exhibition of Works on Paper, Brand Library and Art Center, Glendale, CA.
2013 (Southern) California Drawing, Orange Coast College, Costa Mesa, CA.
2010 “Multiple Universes,” Pasadena City College Art Gallery, Pasadena, CA.
2006 “Then and Now: Highlights from the USC Fisher Gallery collections,” Los Angeles, CA
2004 “Up Close and Impersonal,” Platt Gallery, University of Judaism, Bel Air, CA.
2003 Five-Person Show, ARSG, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA.
2003 Cambridge Art Association National, Cambridge Art Association, Cambridge, MA.
2003 “Peter Frank Selects...,” Don O’Melveny Gallery, West Hollywood, CA
2003 “Just Charcoal,” Works on paper, Fine Arts Gallery, Golden West College, Huntington Beach, CA.
2003 “Electric,” Transport Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.
2002 “Texas National 2002,” The Art Center, Nacogdoches, TX.
2001 “Realism 2001,” The Cultural Center of Fine Arts, Parkersburg, WV.
2001 “Texas National 2001,” The Art Center, Nacogdoches, TX.
2000 “National Landscape Invitational,” Canyon Road Contemporary Art, Santa Fe, NM.
1999 “Gallery 121 Inaugural Exhibition,” Pasadena, CA.
1999 “Cambridge Art Association National Prize Show,” Cambridge, MA.
1998 “1998 Texas and Neighbors Art Competition,” Irving Art Assn, Irving, TX.
1997 “Works on Paper: Recent Drawings, Prints and Photographs” LSU Union Art Gallery, Baton Rouge, LA.
1997 “Gallery Artists,” Evelyn Siegel Gallery, Fort Worth, TX.
1996 “Works On/Of Paper,” Rutgers National ’96, Camden, NJ.
1996 “1996 Texas and Neighbors Art Competition,” Irving Art Association, Irving, TX.
1995 “1995 Critic’s Choice,” Dallas Visual Art Center, Dallas, TX.
1995 “Counter Point,” The 27th Annual National Juried Printmaking, Drawing and Photography Exhibition, Ingram, TX.
1995 Pastel Society of the Southwest, National Open Show, Irving, Texas.
1994 “1994 Stockton National VII,” The Haggin Museum, Stockton, CA.
1994 “Integration, Disintegration, Reintegration?” The Parents Foundation of New Haven, CT.
1993 “Clemson National Print and Drawing Exhibition,” Clemson, SC.
1990 “The Mark,” Security Pacific Gallery, Costa Mesa, CA.
1989 “Visions of Excellence,” Albuquerque United Artists, NM.
1989 “Big and Bold,” Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Art Rental Gallery, CA.
1988 “31st North Dakota Print and Drawing Annual,” North Dakota Museum of Art, Grand Forks, ND.
1987 “Designations,” Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Art Rental Gallery, CA.
1987 North Dakota Print and Drawing Annual, University of North Dakota, ND.
1987 The ASI Achievement Awards, Artists’ Society International, San Francisco, CA.
1987 Mt. San Jacinto Juried Open International Painting Competition, Mt. San Jacinto College, CA.
1986 “The State of the Arts,” Art Rental Gallery, Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
1986 “Pasadena Centennial Art Competition,” Pasadena, CA. 1986 Selected works from Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Designers West, Los Angeles.
1985 “Recent American Works on Paper,” developed for circulation by Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Services.
1985 “Smallworks National ’85,” Zaner Gallery, Rochester, NY.
1984 “Is Beauty the Making One of Opposites?,” Terrain Gallery, New York, NY.
1984 60th Shreveport Art Guild National Exhibition, Meadows Art Museum, LA.
1983 “Newcomers ’83,” Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, CA.
1983 Clemson National Print and Drawing Competition, Clemson University, SC.
1983 “Big and Small,” Terrain Gallery, New York, NY.
1983 “Summer Introductions,” four person show, Koplin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
American Art Collector, April 2023
The Santa Fe New Mexican, “Gallery invites known and emerging artists,” Robert Nott, August 4, 2000.
Pasadena Weekly, “Chalk One Up for Excellence,” November 5-11, 1998.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram, “Parker’s works present light, shadow at play,” Wade Wilson, March 10, 1996.
Dallas/Fort Worth’s Life Style Magazine, “Fort Worth: Where the Art Begins,” Amy Sorter, February, 1996.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram, “A husband-and-wife team with distinctive differences,” Wade Wilson, October 23, 1994.
Gerald F. Brommer, Exploring Drawing, Davis Publications, Worcester, Massachusetts, 1988.
South Pasadena Review, “Suspends Golf Career for Suspended Art Forms,” Norma LeValley, October 7, 1987.
The Sunday Herald, Monterey, California, “Charcoal Chalk Drawings Exhibited in Pacific Grove,” Irene Lagorio, February 8, 1987.
Recent American Works on Paper, exhibition catalogue, Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, 1985.
Los Angeles Times, “Promising Newcomers at the Muni,” Suzanne Muchnic, July 31, 1983.
Gerald F. Brommer and George F. Horn, Art in Your World, Davis Publications, Worcester, MA, 1985.