JOHN PARKER

JOHN PARKER Singularities

27 Sept - 22 Oct

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

Milford Galleries Dunedin 18 Dowling Street (03) 477 7727 info@milfordhouse.co.nz

Blue/Green Portal [14-102] (2014) size (ø x d): 410 x 102 mm $650

Lime Green Cone [14-116] (2014) size (ø x d): 184 x 415 mm $550

Matt Black/Green Cone [14-107] (2014) size (ø x d): 282 x 132 mm $515

Matt Lime Portal [14-118] (2014) size (ø x d): 390 x 97 mm $650

Matt Blue/Black Zig-Zag Ring [14-122] (2014) size (ø x d): 306 x 65 mm $625

Lime Green Dome [14-117] (2014) size (ø x d): 355 x 337 mm $650

Burgundy Dome [14-120] (2014) size (ø x d): 298 x 125 mm $495

Burgundy Cone [14-109] (2014) size (ø x d): 224 x 255 mm $475

Matt Blue Portal [14-103] (2014) size (ø x d): 390 x 95 mm $625

Shiny Blue Ring [14-129] (2014) size (ø x d): 232 x 44 mm $495

Shiny Blue Ring [14-131] (2014) size (ø x d): 175 x 34 mm $395

Matt Blue Grooved Cone [14-110] (2014) size (ø x d): 200 x 327 mm $495

Matt Blue Ring [14-130] (2014) size (ø x d): 190 x 53 mm $425

Matt Blue Orb [14-112] (2014) size (ø x d): 228 x 237 mm $595

Matt Blue/Black Zig-Zag Ring [14-121] (2014) size (ø x d): 329 x 45 mm $725

Matt Turquoise Portal [14-101] (2014) size (ø x d): 400 x 87 mm $625

Matt Blue/Black Grooved Orb [14-114] (2014) size (ø x d): 222 x 222 mm $550

Matt Blue/Black Ring [14-132] (2014) size (ø x d): 219 x 53 mm $450

Matt Purple Ring [14-128] (2014) size (ø x d): 221 x 46 mm $450

Lime Green Ring [14-126] (2014) size (ø x d): 220 x 85 mm $495

Matt Blue Ring [14-124] (2014) size (ø x d): 304 x 59 mm $625

Matt Blue Orb [14-113] (2014) size (ø x d): 218 x 203 mm $525

Matt Blue Ring [14-127] (2014) size (ø x d): 217 x 53 mm $450

Matt Blue Dome [14-105] (2014) size (ø x d): 295 x 118 mm $525

Matt Black/Green Dome [14-106] (2014) size (ø x d): 235 x 130 mm $495

Matt Blue/Black Cone [14-108] (2014) size (ø x d): 162 x 463 mm $595

Matt Blue/Black Grooved Cone [14-111] (2014) size (ø x d): 158 x 355 mm $475

Matt Blue/Green Zig-Zag Ring [14-125] (2014) size (ø x d): 319 x 50 mm $695

Matt Blue/Green Dome [14-104] (2014) size (ø x d): 353 x 124 mm $650

Matt Blue/Green Zig-Zag Ring [14-123] (2014) size (ø x d): 329 x 57 mm $725

Assorted Vessels [14-141] [14-142] [14-143] [14-145] [14-144] [14-

-146] [14-147] [14-148] [14-150] [14-149] (2014), glazed ceramic

Matt Purple Conical Necked Bottle [14-147] (2014) size (h x ø): 250 x 148 mm $395

Matt Purple Cone [14-141] (2014) size (h x ø): 283 x 98 mm $375

Matt Purple Conical Bowl [14-148] (2014) size (h x ø): 196 x 166 mm $450

Matt Purple Conical Necked Bottle [14-144] size (h x ø): 219 x 110 mm $395

Matt Blue Conical Necked Bottle [14-143] (2014) size (h x ø): 295 x 170 mm $495

Matt Blue Conical Bowl [14-146] (2014) size (h x ø): 202 x 143 mm $450

Matt Lilac Conical Necked Bottle [14-142] (2014) size (h x ø): 215 x 135 mm $395

Matt Lilac Conical Necked Bottle [14-150] (2014) size (h x ø): 272 x 148 mm $625

Matt Lilac Blue Necked Bottle [14-149] (2014) size (h x ø): 250 x 125 mm $425

Matt Mauve Cone [14-145] (2014) size (h x ø): 282 x 106 mm $375

Matt Blue Conical Vessel [14-139] (2014) size (h x ø): 325 x 130 mm $495

Matt Blue Conical Vessel [14-134] (2014) size (h x ø): 303 x 135 mm $475

Assorted Vessels [14-133] [14-134] [14-135] [14-136] [14-

-137] [14-138] [14-139] [14-140] (2014), glazed ceramic

Lime Green Cone [14-140] (2014) size (h x ø): 290 x 97 mm $375

Lime Green Conical Vase [14-136] (2014) size (h x ø): 297 x 117 mm $450

Lime Green Conical Bowl [14-138] (2014) size (h x ø): 223 x 168 mm $495

Matt Blue Cone [14-135] (2014) size (h x ø): 312 x 106 mm $395

Lime Green Conical Vessel [14-133] (2014) size (h x ø): 249 x 105 mm $395

Matt Blue Conical Vase [14-137] (2014) size (h x ø): 322 x 140 mm $495

Matt Green/Black Conical Necked Bottle [14-115] (2014) glazed ceramic, size (ø x d): 186 x 502 mm $850

“Parker’s career is characterised by a constant testing of the boundaries of ceramic art.” (1) “… I’ve liked the idea of setting up rules. I’ve always loved this kind of mind-game. You can only make cylinders, cones and spheres. The more you limit yourself the more you create possibilities. My shows have always been about very simple ideas and concepts. But I don’t work them out ahead. The exhibition forms as I work. One piece leads to another. I’m interested in my work being seen as a coherent body, as a group.” (2) “I really love setting up problems for myself and solving them.” (3) The genesis of the new techniques and astute manipulation of variables evident in this new body of work occurred three years ago when a group of potters got together one Sunday at the Auckland Studio Potters Centre to test Cone 6 glazes. In that process, John Parker rediscovered his passion for glazes and testing.

“My new work involves using the chemicals cobalt and chrome as colouring oxides, rather than using commercially prepared stains. The differing base glaze compositions can affect cobalt ranging from deep blue, through mauve to purple and give lime greens, yellows and grape to burgundy from chromium. The results vary widely from firing to firing.” (4) Parker’s well-known forms, remarkable for their formal resolve and technical perfection, become in Singularities noticeably painterly, delivering abstract minimalist concerns and spatial dialogues through the role played by the new glazes. These glazes are used thinly and as such are variable, unpredictable. The glazes enable the objects to assert a presence, whether wall-mounted or on a table-top surface, that is individual - with the negative space around becoming recessive in nature. There is still a clear and strong stylistic link to what preceded them – this is witnessed in the tonal variables and formal elegance, the descending, ascending and radiating rhythms of repetition, and in the fundamental minimalist aesthetic at the centre of all of Parker’s ceramics.

1. John Parker, John Parker: Ceramics, David Bateman Ltd in association with City Gallery Wellington, 2002, inside cover.

2. John Parker, interviewed by Jim Barr and Mary Barr in “Radiating Excellence,” John Parker: Ceramics, David Bateman / City Gallery Wellington, 2002, p. 15.

3. Ibid, p.16 4. John Parker, Singularities, Artist Statement

JOHN PARKER b. 1947, lives Auckland

Still Life for Keith and Ernie 8 (2009-11)

“I subscribe to the well rounded aesthetic ideal, I guess. All the things I do relate, they are all visual. They all concern the drama of reactions to shape and colour and arrangement.” John Parker works as a potter, set and costume designer and film critic. He draws no distinction between his interests. “The same themes flow through your work and the same processes of stylisation, fine-tuning and attention to detail apply.” (1) “When working in clay, I see myself following in the traditions of being just a craft potter. Each piece is hand-made and unique. I throw and turn all my work on the potter’s wheel. I make ware which is easily recognisable as the classical pottery vessel, bottle or bowl, but my special concern is to push the concepts of these as far as possible into severe minimalism and into the functional/non-functional debate to explore the very essence of defining these ideas. My forms and aesthetic, of the stark and the industrial owe more to the philosophy of the European design movements of de Stijl and the Bauhaus than to Leach and Hamada.” (2) “His pots are beautifully formed, strongly based on simple geometry, they are elegantly glazed and crisply detailed.” (3) “For some years now Parker has been limiting his focus and simplifying his forms. In his search for refinement and perfection he now works purely in white porcelain.” (4) "Shufflebotham had worked with the New Zealand designer Keith Murray at Wedgwood during the 1930s. There he had been a master thrower and key interpreter of Murray’s innovative, restrained and glacial domestic wares. When, in the 1940s, Shufflebotham found himself at Crown Lynn in Auckland, he produced a series of hand potted, turned and white-glazed works that were essentially a theme and variation on those he had thrown at Wedgwood. In the works of these two men, Parker discovered like-minded ceramic artists who thought across traditional boundaries and in doing so instituted the exchange of a distinctive modernist iconography particular to Britain and New Zealand.

Parker began to add to that tradition, bringing to it his own set of references and experiences."(5) Born in Auckland, New Zealand 1947. After some years studying in New Zealand and London, Parker graduated with a Master of Fine Arts, Royal College of Art, London in 1975. He returned to Auckland in 1977 and continues to live and work there.

Parker has been exhibiting ceramics since 1967. He now frequently has three solo exhibitions in New Zealand annually and also participates in local and international groups show in the UK, Italy, USA and Australia. Widely regarded as one of New Zealand’s leading ceramic artists, Parker has received numerous commissions and awards for his work including the prestigious Arts Foundation Laureate Award in 2010. His work is held in major New Zealand public collections including the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa as well as many private collections in New Zealand and internationally.

1. Artists Statement, 1994.

2. Artists Statement, 2000.

3. Helen Schamroth, ‘100 New Zealand Craft Artists’, , Godwit, Auckland, 1998.

4. Barry Allom, ‘Urbane, stylish, all white’, The Press, 18 November 1998.

5. Douglas Lloyd-Jenkins, 'The Journey Towards White', John Parker Ceramics, David Bateman, 2002.

John Parker 2014 CV P a g e |1

Milford Galleries Dunedin

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

JOHN PARKER b. 1947, lives Auckland EDUCATION 1975 1970

MA, Royal College of Art, London, England DipTech (Distinction) Auckland College of Education

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2014 2013

2012 2011

2010 2009 2007

2006

2005 2004

2003

2002 2001 2000

1999 1998

1997

1996 1995

Singularities, Milford Galleries Dunedin Singularities, AVID, Wellington Black + White + Red, Piece Gallery, Matakana The New White, AVID, Wellington Black + White + Red, Corban Estate Arts Centre, Auckland Black + White + Red, Milford Galleries Dunedin Positives / Negatives, Masterworks, Auckland Attracted Opposites, AVID, Wellington Untested, Masterworks, Auckland Negatives/Positives, AVID, Wellington RED, milford galleries queenstown Shades of Red, AVID, Wellington Testing, Masterworks, Auckland Black + White + Red, milford galleries queenstown The Same But Different, Masterworks, Auckland The Same But Different, AVID, Wellington New Ceramic Forms, milford galleries queenstown New China, Masterworks, Auckland Diversions, AVID, Wellington Baubles, AVID, Wellington Off White, Masterworks, Auckland Superstrata, Milford Galleries Dunedin Superstrata, AVID, Wellington Superstrata, Objectspace, Auckland Resurfacing, AVID, Wellington Resurfacing, Masterworks, Auckland New Artefacts, Milford Galleries Dunedin Abstraction and Still Life, Milford Galleries Dunedin New Artefacts, Masterworks, Auckland New Artefacts, AVID, Wellington White Ware, Form Gallery, Christchurch Festival of the Arts John Parker Ceramics (Retrospective Exhibition), City Gallery, Wellington White Ware, Masterworks, Auckland White Ware, AVID, Wellington Wall to Wall, Hastings Exhibition Centre, Hastings White Ware, International Arts Festival, Wellington White Ware, Milford Galleries Dunedin Twentieth Century Ceramics, AVID, Wellington Twentieth Century Ceramics, Masterworks, Auckland 99 White Bottles, Albany Village Gallery, Auckland Functional Ware, Masterworks, Auckland Functional Ware, AVID, Wellington White Ware, MIRO Gallery, Napier White Ware, Masterworks, Auckland White Ware, AVID, Wellington Recent Ceramics, AVID, Wellington New Work, AVID, Wellington New Work, FORM Gallery, Christchurch

John Parker 2014 CV P a g e |2

Milford Galleries Dunedin

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

1994

1993 1992 1991 1990 1986 1985 1984 1983 1982 1981

1980

1979

1977 1973 1972

Points and Penetrations, Masterworks, Auckland New Work, AVID, Wellington New Work, FORM Gallery, Christchurch Triptychs, Masterworks, Auckland New Work, AVID, Wellington Window Dressing, Compendium Gallery, Auckland New Work, AVID, Wellington Masterworks, Masterworks, Auckland Ceramics for the Modern Home, Compendium Gallery, Auckland Happy Birthday to Me, Real Time, Auckland Decorative Art, 12 Potters Gallery, Auckland 12 Potters Gallery, Auckland Textures, New Vision Gallery, Auckland Pots of Ponsonby, Auckland Blackfriars Gallery, Sydney, Australia New Vision Gallery, Auckland Dowse Art Museum, Wellington The Craft Centre, Melbourne, Australia Albany Village Pottery, Auckland Domestic Wares, Alicat Gallery, Auckland Brooke Gifford Gallery, Christchurch Blackfriars Gallery, Sydney, Australia New Vision Gallery, Auckland Media, Wellington New Vision Gallery, Auckland New Vision Gallery, Auckland Faenza, ITALY Christmas Show, MEDIA, Wellington

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2014 2013 2012 2011-12 2011 2009 2008 2006 2004 2002 1996 1995 1994 1984 1983 1982 1980 1979 1978

1977

The Royal Queenstown Easter Show, milford galleries Queenstown Collis/Parker/Collis, David Lloyd Gallery, Hamilton Significant Works, Milford Galleries Dunedin Collecting Contemporary, Te Papa Tongarewa, Museum of New Zealand Crown Lynn: Crockery of Distinction, City Gallery, Wellington Collis and Parker, David Lloyd Gallery, Hamilton In Good Company, Skepski Gallery, Melbourne Down Under China, Arthouse, Christchurch Reconstructing China, Masterworks, Auckland Beyond the Pale存 North Art, Auckland Parker and Parker; Installation with Richard Parker, Object Space, Auckland Space, Fire and Form, Gallery East, Fremantle, Ceramic Art Gallery, Sydney, Shepparton Art Gallery, Victoria, Australia The Bowled and the Beautiful, Freemantle, Australia Works in Progress (collaboration with Terry Stringer), Compendium Gallery, Auckland Clay and Architecture (Collaboration with Simon Carnachan), Fisher Gallery, Auckland Ceramics for the Year of the Pig, Masterworks, Auckland Collaborations (Joint show with Rick Rudd), Masterworks, Auckland Porcelain: 4 Potters, 12 Potters Gallery, Auckland Clay and Glass, AZ ART, Arizona, USA Basic Black: Twenty Bowls, Denis Cohn Gallery, Auckland Weaver John Hadwen, C S A Gallery, Christchurch 5 x 5, Denis Cohn Gallery, Auckland North Island Potters, Dowse Art Museum, Wellington Crafts New Zealand, overseas travelling exhibition Porcelain 3, Alicat, Auckland 4 x 10: Four Approaches, Peter Webb Gallery, Auckland Oxford Gallery, Oxford, UK

John Parker 2014 CV P a g e |3

Milford Galleries Dunedin

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

1976

1975

1969+ 1967+

Porcelain Show, MEDIA, Wellington Porcelain 2, Alicat, Auckland Heals (with Ian Godfrey), London, UK Upper Street Gallery, London, UK Third Eye Gallery, Glasgow, UK Tom Caldwell Gallery, Belfast, UK 24 British Potters (travelling show) USA Degree Show, Royal College of Art, London, UK Oxford Gallery, Oxford, UK Christmas Show, Goswell Road Workshop, London, UK Faenza, Italy National Museum of Wales, Cardiff, Wales, UK New Zealand Society of Potters Annual Exhibitions With Grant Hudson, Upstairs Gallery, Hamilton Auckland Studio Potters Annual Exhibitions

AWARDS & COMMISSIONS 2014 2010 2009 2007 1999

1998 1995 1989 1985 1980 1979

Artist Residency, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia Arts Foundation Laureate Award Winner of Portage Awards, John Green Waitakere Artist Award Winner of Portage Awards, John Green Waitakere Artist Award Awarded Waitakere City Millennium Medal for services to the Community Commissioned Installation for Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for Embassy Chancery, Jakarta Commission for Noel Lane - Architect, Auckland Commissioned APEC Leaders Gift presented to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin Commissioned Installation for Chapman Tripp Foyer, Wellington Birkehead Licensing Trust Award Royal Easter Show Western Potters Award Merit Award, Royal Easter Show Pottery Awards Merit Award, Hume Gas Award Awarded Major Creative Development Grant by QE2 to research glaze technology & UV light Merit Award, Fletcher Brownbuilt Pottery Award Merit Award, Fletcher Brownbuilt Pottery Award Merit Award, Fletcher Brownbuilt Pottery Award

SELECTED COLLECTIONS Chapman Tripp Sun Alliance Montana Wines Auckland Institute and Museum Dowse Art Museum Museum of New Zealand - Te Papa Tongarewa Manawatu Art Gallery Ministry of Foreign Affairs Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, Sydney, Australia N Z Embassy, Tokyo, Japan Northern Arizona University, USA Pennsylvania State University, USA Waikato Art Museum Whangarei Art Gallery NZ Embassy, Jakarta, Indonesia James Wallace Arts Trust

SELECTED ARTICLES 2002 2002 1998

John Parker Ceramics, Wellington: David Bateman Severe White Things, Art News, Summer 2002, pp 50 – 51 Schamroth, Helen, 100 New Zealand Craft Artists, Auckland: Godwit

John Parker 2014 CV P a g e |4

Milford Galleries Dunedin

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

1996 1995 1995 1990 1988 1981 1978 1973 1973

Lloyd-Jenkins, Douglas, From Paris to Vortex: Keith Murray and New Zealand Ceramics, Keith Murray in Context, Robin Craw (ed.), Napier: Hawkes Bay Museum Parker, John, The Organic Nature of Sophistication: Lucie Rie Remembered, New Zealand Potter, vol.37, no.3, December 1995, pp 16-18 Mansfield, Janet, Contemporary Ceramic Art in Australia and New Zealand, Sydney: Craftsman House Waitakere Arts and Cultural Centre. Stages: John Parker Survey Exhibition, Auckland Parker, John and Celia Parkinson 24 New Zealand Potters, Auckland: David Bateman Parker, John, Domestic Wares, New Zealand Potter, vol.23, no.2, Spring 1981, pp 24-25 Parker, John, Eat Your Heart Out Betty Crocker, New Zealand Potter, vol.20, no.2, Spring 1978, pp 20 Harris, Margaret, John Parker, New Zealand Potter, vol.15, no.1, Autumn 1973, pp 44-46 Harris, Margaret, John Parker at New Vision, New Zealand Potter, vol.15, no.1. Autumn 1973, pp 47

Selection of red vessels (2011)

John Parker 2014 CV P a g e |5

Milford Galleries Dunedin

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz