JS Parker 1944-2017

ONZM

JS (John) Parker studied at Ilam School of Fine Arts, Christchurch and graduated with Honours in Painting in 1967. 

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 worked in thick layers of paint applied with a palette knife, sweeps of paint which he would pare back to reveal hints of what lies beneath.

For Parker, it is the sense of an inner radiance in his paintings which allows the viewer to relate to the "spirit" of the painting. Parker had always been drawn to emotive rather than hard-edged art and believed in eliminating in painting any obstacles to the spirit: "If your painting's going to have a language, it's got to be felt. It's a physical thing."

Parker painted full-time since he was awarded the Frances Hodgkins Fellowship in 1975. In 2002, Parker was awarded the ONZM in the Queen's Birthday Honours List in recognition of his services to painting over the previous four decades. He lived and worked in Marlborough until his death in August 2017.