Erik Parker ^©  

(1968)

Stuart Shave Modern Art, London;

Marino Golinelli Collection, Bologna;

Phillips de Pury & Company Auction, London, The Marino Golinelli Collection, October 13th 2007;

here acquired by the present owner

Blindarte kindly thanks to James Southall Ford, of the Stuart Shave Modern Art Gallery, for the help in compiling this sheet

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Erik Parker (Stuttgart, 1968) is known for his vision of organized chaos, painted through dynamic and complex cartoon compositions, with elements inspired by both the human body and the plant and animal world.

The unconventional education of the artist, born in Germany but raised in San Antonio, Texas, influenced him to create the works that made him famous. As a child, growing up in the first half of the 1980s, he was interested in the American counterculture of the time, dominated by skateboarding, punk rock and hip-hop. It is from these elements that Parker draws inspiration for his works: but in addition to psychedelia, to underground comics and heavy metal, the artist also studies artists such as Picasso, Bacon and Liechtenstein; with the result that the historical references of the most famous art are juxtaposed with cartoon figures.

The set of all these elements creates something visually alternative: as in the highly representative large and colorful oil, graphite and marker on board titled "Groovy BOB", executed in 2003 and presented here, Parker layers the images, creating a psychedelic collage through the use of seemingly infinite shapes, using bright colors, through a style that limits the excessive saturation of visual images today: "I try to fit as much as possible in a painting. I try to make loaded paintings, because we live in loaded times". (Interview with Erik Parker, curated by the Paul Kasmin Gallery, 2015).