"My belief is that painting is a more-than-the-sum-of-the-parts proposition. I'm counting on that. That all things get caught and trapped in and between layers of paint. Since I was a boy I have always been wowed by the power of painting to speak beautifully for life; that I would give myself completely to that is my oldest memory."
Addison Parks’s dedication to painting started at a very early age. First in the Via Margutta artist community in Rome in the early 60's, studying with Gino Severini, and then later in New York at the invitation of Richard Tuttle. After earning a BFA from RISD (’76) he was invited to participate in a mural exhibition at PS1 in 1980, was one of Seven Americans at Washburn Gallery in '82, and had a solo show the same year at the Andrew Crispo Gallery. He taught at RISD in the late 80's and wrote regularly on art for the Christian Science Monitor. He has curated shows and had countless exhibitions, including with the Creiger/Dane Gallery, Nielsen Gallery, and Bow Street Gallery. His art blog Artdeal Magazine is widely read reflecting his sense of the important issues of contemporary art. Recently he reflected on the direction his life has taken:
“There are miracles to be found in painting. The things that can happen can surprise, can illuminate, can nurture and feed the soul. They can be a moment, a window, a beacon, an epiphany, an inspiration. Always an experiment, always a venture, adventure, a risk. Every painting takes me up a tree and out on a limb, to go where I can go and see what I can see. To be curious, to think, to feel, to imagine, to tell that story. The privilege of being a painter has been to be able to be poet, inventor, philosopher, alchemist, explorer and storyteller all at once.”
Love's Spine, 2015, gouache on linen, 16 x 12 inches
Plot Line, 2015, gouache on linen, 16 x 12 inches
Flap, 2015, gouache and oil on linen, 18 x 24 inches
Seventh Samurai, 2015, oil on linen, 24 x 18
Not of This World (Pine), 2015, oil on canvas, 14 x 11 inches
Heaven's Gate 2015, oil on canvas, 14 x 11
Cathy's Turn, 2015, gouache and oil on linen, 16 x 12 inches
Light Sail, 2015, gouache on linen, 16 x 12 inches
Trunk, 2015, oil on linen, 24 x 18 inches
Hillside, 2015, oil on canvas, 12 x 16 inches
Wood, 2015, oil on canvas, 12 x 16 inches
My Heart is by the Window, 2014, oil on linen, 12 x 9 inches
Fall, 2015, oil on canvas, 11 x 14 inches