Sunday, November 24, 2013

Peter Parks: Wall of Paint, Wall of Sound



Peter Parks; Yellow 13; 60 x 48"; oil on canvas; 2013
Courtesy Greg Moon Art and the Harwood Museum; Photo credit: Cris Pulos


Peter Parks has always had a great imagination. It has been his joyful friend and companion down a rocky road. What he could always count on. Through a difficult childhood. Through a turbulent adolescence in and out of schools and passed back and forth by divorced parents, countries, even continents, apart. His imagination got him through his service in Vietnam during the worst part of the war. His imagination got him through the unimaginably hard years of recovery after the war. For over 60 years Peter Parks's imagination has gotten him through and made him the artist, the painter, he is today.


Peter Parks; RED 13; 60 x 48"; oil on canvas, 2013
Courtesy Greg Moon Art and the Harwood Museum; Photo credit: Cris Pulos


You could say that his paintings are a wall of sorts. The wall he faces everyday. In every sense. Like the blank canvas. Like the unknown. The wall he faces and finds a way through everyday. It is a wall of paint. A wall of sound. A wall of pain, of despair, and of hope. And above all it is a wall of triumph. 


Peter Parks; Blue No. 7;(2010); 84 x 66"
Courtesy Greg Moon Art and the Harwood Museum; Photo credit: Cris Pulos


Looking at his work we face what he faces. The paintings put us in his shoes, locating us squarely in his shoes, locating us squarely in his experience. They dog his steps from the Midwest to Greek islands, to Swiss mountains, and every European capital, to Southeast Asia, the Southwest, California, Mexico, New York, and back to the Southwest, again with still more places in between, to right out on the Mesa, and into his Taos studio. The paintings feel that way. They vibrate. They resonate. They are marked, layered, travelled, streaked, stained, even scarred that way. The touch is seamless. The power is genuine. The result is kick-ass! 

Peter Parks owns his paintings, and they own him. His freedom. His power. His curse. His question. His answer. His doubt. His faith. They are his cave. Cave paintings. Cave walls. His walls. Walls of paint. Walls of sound. Howling at the moon. Howling at it all. The love. The mess. The joy. The tears. The loss. The laughter. Peter Parks has the imagination to put it all together. To make sense of it all. To make sanity of it all. In paint. In painting. In paintings.


Addison Parks

Spring Hill


Here are some links to Peter Parks's current show at Greg Moon, and the Harwood museum, as well as a wonderful article in the Taos News by Jim O'Donnell that is right on the mark.

 GREG MOON ART:
Saturday, September 21, 2013 - Sunday, January 26, 2014

PETER PARKS: NEW WORKS

Gallery: Curator's Wall
Peter and Addison Parks; Crete; c.1960



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8 comments:

  1. Christopher Busa11:54 AM

    Bravo for kinship, fraternity, and insight into one's own blood. I did not know that the talented Addison Parks had a brother named Peter Parks, but now I see the role of redemption through art, understanding, and passionate love. The walls that stop us become entrances into enlightenment. Best from Chris Busa and Provincetown Arts. www.provincetownarts.org

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  2. Anonymous12:31 PM

    Peters paintings are beautiful.
    M.T.

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  3. Anonymous12:33 PM

    Very touching piece.I like the metaphor:wall of sound wall of paint.So happy for him.And for you to write about your brother must mean a lot.Coming full circle.

    Martin

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  4. Anonymous12:34 PM

    Thanks so much for sending me a link to Peter's lovely work.

    Arnold S.

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  5. Anonymous12:36 PM

    loved the blog about your brother (and love his painting "Red 13"). I like all of his paintings, actually. It is very interesting to compare his work to yours, as the styles are completely different. So while the "art gene" obviously runs through your family, the creations themselves and the inspiration for them must come from somewhere very personal.



    Ernest

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  6. Anonymous12:39 PM

    Wow! Thanks for sending this to me! I am particularly blown away by blue no 7. All are beautifully enhanced by your writing.
    Too much talent for one family! m

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  7. Anonymous12:40 PM

    Thanks for the photos. I had seen the red and blue one from an earlier show he posted from. They are very powerful pieces

    Linda Hart

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  8. Anonymous1:47 PM

    Thanks Addison.
    Not bad writing either.

    'bye, Peter J.

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