| Ray Parker Paintings 1958-1971 Color into Drawing Haggerty Museum of Art, Marquette University 13th and Clybourn Street, Milwaukee Phone: 414-288-1669 |
| Ray Parker, Untitled, 1970 |
The “swath and patch” paintings, or “simple”
paintings as Parker called them, are the more
dominate of the two bodies of work. There’s a
subtly to their grandness that lingers long after
leaving their presence. When the direct, blunt
application of the paint becomes a subtle
meeting of painted edges, a complementary
relationship is formed whereby boldness and
passive elements exist as integral parts.
Though these paintings are flat and lack any
modeling or rendering of form they still have the
physicality of mass. Like sculpture, minus one
dimension.
There are only two paintings that have titles. For
some viewers, titles help reference or
personalize abstract work, but for others they
may be distracting. For Kate / Kate for Your
Birthday is an example. Because of the title, the
painting may suggest that its two color masses
are figures engaging in tender relations. This is
disconcerting because titles for paintings like
these take meaning away from the form and
introduce irrelevant sentiments. On the other
hand, Untitled, 1961 (69 x 64 in.) (a painting
near the front entrance) is wonderful to
| Ray Parker, Untitled, 1961 |
experience without the sentiments of a wordy and illustrative title. The way the dark green mass presses
heavily down from above onto the dense blackish-purple mass, which responds, with a force that swells
upward creates an almost breathing like motion. To see this is to experience poetry of form. Nothing more is
needed.
The larger paintings that represent Parker’s later work are grand in scale and have a prettiness that’s hard to
deny. Movement within these paintings is very natural. While reminiscent of blowing leaves or flowing water
there is also a presence of choreographic direction as dance-like movements are contained within the
boundaries of the canvas.
The painting, Untitled, 1970 (70 x 90 in.), reproduced on the cover of the museum’s catalog, represents the
strength of this work. It’s a strong image that has a daringly odd color scheme (is that a mauve background?)
combined with the swift calligraphic shapes that move with knife-like precision as a central form is created
from emptiness, and then this non-void becomes the ballast for the whole composition.
One of the many pleasures in experiencing these paintings is to appreciate their joy of lyrical movement while
admiring the artist’s control of so many complex color combinations. Lesser artists attempting paintings like
these could easily end up with a blur of color, most probably resulting in a queasy experience.
These two bodies of work, made within a span of less than fifteen years, create such a wonderful dichotomy
of visual perceptions. To emphasize the idea that these two groups are so different isn’t meant to disparage
Ray Parker for his lack of continuity, but instead to see an insightful and talented artist who uses control with
intelligent sensitivity as one means to two very different ends.
- Richard Knight
Richard Knight is a painter and Director of Tory Folliard Gallery in Milwaukee.
Comments for the writer? Email comments@susceptibletoimages.com
heavily down from above onto the dense blackish-purple mass, which responds, with a force that swells
upward creates an almost breathing like motion. To see this is to experience poetry of form. Nothing more is
needed.
The larger paintings that represent Parker’s later work are grand in scale and have a prettiness that’s hard to
deny. Movement within these paintings is very natural. While reminiscent of blowing leaves or flowing water
there is also a presence of choreographic direction as dance-like movements are contained within the
boundaries of the canvas.
The painting, Untitled, 1970 (70 x 90 in.), reproduced on the cover of the museum’s catalog, represents the
strength of this work. It’s a strong image that has a daringly odd color scheme (is that a mauve background?)
combined with the swift calligraphic shapes that move with knife-like precision as a central form is created
from emptiness, and then this non-void becomes the ballast for the whole composition.
One of the many pleasures in experiencing these paintings is to appreciate their joy of lyrical movement while
admiring the artist’s control of so many complex color combinations. Lesser artists attempting paintings like
these could easily end up with a blur of color, most probably resulting in a queasy experience.
These two bodies of work, made within a span of less than fifteen years, create such a wonderful dichotomy
of visual perceptions. To emphasize the idea that these two groups are so different isn’t meant to disparage
Ray Parker for his lack of continuity, but instead to see an insightful and talented artist who uses control with
intelligent sensitivity as one means to two very different ends.
- Richard Knight
Richard Knight is a painter and Director of Tory Folliard Gallery in Milwaukee.
Comments for the writer? Email comments@susceptibletoimages.com
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Although Ray Parker is often linked with the American abstract expressionists his aesthetic temperament
was guided less by expressionism’s waywardness and more by his need for control and formal precision.
His 17 paintings, currently on view at the Haggerty, generally reveal a desire to control the dynamics between
a color’s weight, the speed of a line, the density of value and then, with the combined interaction of elements,
create a smooth, flat visual field. Parker shares a portion of this visual language with many of his
contemporaries including Kenneth Noland, Frank Stella and Al Held.
Some of these paintings are nearly fifty years old, but they have aged well and, as a whole, remain fresh.
There is a rare clarity to these paintings too. The textures are subtle, the lines clean and the color is un-
muddled and pure.
Ray Parker was born in North Dakota, studied in Iowa and spent most of his life teaching at Hunter College in
New York City. He died in 1990. His work was brought to the attention of the Haggerty through a family
connection in the Midwest.
There are two very distinct groups of paintings in this exhibit. The first group was done between 1958 to
around 1965 and probably represents Parker’s most recognizable images. These are monumental paintings
that have large simple shapes of “squareish” swaths or “roundish” patches made of dense pigment
composed in combinations of two to five shapes on flat creamy white grounds. The second group, done from
about 1962 to 1971, is very different. They are larger than most of the “swath and patch” paintings and have
big, dramatic calligraphic movements of bright, contrasting colored shapes that slither and undulate across
continuous fields of flat vibrant color.
was guided less by expressionism’s waywardness and more by his need for control and formal precision.
His 17 paintings, currently on view at the Haggerty, generally reveal a desire to control the dynamics between
a color’s weight, the speed of a line, the density of value and then, with the combined interaction of elements,
create a smooth, flat visual field. Parker shares a portion of this visual language with many of his
contemporaries including Kenneth Noland, Frank Stella and Al Held.
Some of these paintings are nearly fifty years old, but they have aged well and, as a whole, remain fresh.
There is a rare clarity to these paintings too. The textures are subtle, the lines clean and the color is un-
muddled and pure.
Ray Parker was born in North Dakota, studied in Iowa and spent most of his life teaching at Hunter College in
New York City. He died in 1990. His work was brought to the attention of the Haggerty through a family
connection in the Midwest.
There are two very distinct groups of paintings in this exhibit. The first group was done between 1958 to
around 1965 and probably represents Parker’s most recognizable images. These are monumental paintings
that have large simple shapes of “squareish” swaths or “roundish” patches made of dense pigment
composed in combinations of two to five shapes on flat creamy white grounds. The second group, done from
about 1962 to 1971, is very different. They are larger than most of the “swath and patch” paintings and have
big, dramatic calligraphic movements of bright, contrasting colored shapes that slither and undulate across
continuous fields of flat vibrant color.