JS Parker

The rivers and reflections, dramatic skies and dust-blown hills of Marlborough find their way into the abstract paintings of leading NZ artist JS (John Shotton) Parker.

Highly regarded by collectors nationally and internationally, JS Parker is best known for his large impasto paintings within a grid format, full of texture, rhythm and balance within his imposed framework, exploring juxtapositions of colour. He works in thick layers of paint applied with a palette knife, sweeps of paint which he may pare back to reveal hints of what lies beneath.

A keen angler, Parker derives much inspiration from the Wairau River and its Diversion, particularly the colours of sky and land reflected in the �shifting mirror� of the flowing water. He doesn�t consciously set out to paint Marlborough, but his work captures a spiritual feeling about certain places, like the river or the sea at Rarangi (Cloudy Bay). �Or you look up to see what the weather is doing against the hills. Water and sky are the most ephemeral kind of elements.�

He exhibits nationally and his work is held in national and private collections. He now works from a studio within his favourite landscape, near The Diversion Gallery in Marlborough. New works may be available on enquiry � please contact us for details.

Recent Work 

JS Parker continues to explore compositions of unexpected colour, including a series the unusual light and reflections over Golden Bay, Parapara and Nelson. These works have a figurative as well as abstract reading, with the light of sea and sky bisected by the distant horizontal line of the Boulder Bank (a natural breakwater).

He has also continued his Plain Song evolution, capturing colour glimpsed in a passing landscape or nightscape, such as Study for The Canterbury Plain.

An ongoing series of small Plain Song compositions stand on their own but sometimes lead on to the large works for which he is best known � such as Plain Song � Unbreakable Spirit, a powerful painting which speaks of the strong women in his life, the fierce orange standing firm against the tide of wintry blues.

More About the Artist 

Born in 1944, JS Parker is described in the AKL international art dictionary as �one of the most substantial New Zealand painters of his generation. He stands out as one whose art centres on the pursuit of an approach where vigour has greater value than refinement�.

Parker studied art at Ilam School of Fine Arts at Canterbury University and in the mid 1970s was awarded the prestigious Frances Hodgkins Fellowship at Otago University. He ultimately settled in Marlborough and focused on the light and colours of the landscape, where he believes New Zealand�s greatest character lies. His contribution and steadfast vision was recognized in 2003 when he was awarded the Order of New Zealand Merit for 40 years of services to painting.

He constantly refines his art towards a horizon of infinite possibility, and experiments with both form and colour � �you are not so much creating as discovering.�

The works of this leading New Zealand painter continue to explore the nuances of light and juxtapositions of colour, often inspired by the South Island land, waters and light, sometimes by a feeling of time and place. There is also an enthusiastic following for his unique �black and white� paintings, often using tar alongside white oil paint in a juxtaposition of the staunch and the vulnerable, sometimes jolted with a spike of colour. His Plain Songs refer not only to the South Island plains but also the formal structure of Gregorian chants. A music lover of wide taste, he is particularly inspired by blues, jazz and classical music; his work often shows a musical rhythm and balance, or a fine line like a high continuous note.

Parker�s impasto paintings are keenly sought after by collectors in New Zealand and overseas and their value has risen steadily. His small Plain Song paintings have the freshness of discovery as Parker explores structures and linkages within a tight framework. He is best known however for his large scale paintings of about 1.5 to 2.5 metres.

Please contact us to confirm current prices: most prices are posted at the time of exhibition, and may be revised as the artists’ values increase.