Exhibiting a breadth
of art practice
Parra has exhibited internationally in alternative spaces, commercial galleries, art fairs and museums. He has had solo exhibitions in San Francisco, Portland and Reno and group exhibitions in Berlin, Brazil, Los Angeles, London and New York.
In The Cut: between the studio and exhibition
SFArtsED Artists-in-Residence
SFArtsED Gallery Space | Minnesota Street Project
Oct 5–Nov 16, 2024
Erik Parra
Maybaum Gallery
San Francisco, CA
2022
Insides Out
Eleanor Harwood Gallery
San Francisco, CA
2020
High Rise
Adobe Books Gallery
San Francisco, CA
2020
History by Choice
Eleanor Harwood Gallery
San Francisco, CA
2018
In The Same River Twice
State Space
San Francisco, CA
2016
Each Devil His Own
Transmission Gallery
Oakland, CA
2015
Capturing the Void
Nisus Gallery
Portland OR
2013
This: A Contemporary Situation
Sheppard Contemporary and University Galleries, University of Nevada Reno
Reno, NV
2013
West Facing
Truesilver Gallery
San Francisco, CA
2012
Between Currencies
Johansson Projects
Oakland, CA
2010
Marvels of Construction
Online Exhibit
Beefmaster Gallery and Project Space
2009
This Paradise Spell, MFA Thesis exhibit
Seventh Floor Gallery, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Madison, WI
2004
Your art collection is a reflection
You hop from one art gallery, fair and museum to the next to discover the latest emerging talent, or to be moved by the tried and true established or blue chip artist. You find that artist that resonates with you and whose artwork fits your budget. The art reflects who you are and what you stand for. You know that your family, gallery partner or museum colleagues will love the artist and their oeuvre as much as you do.
Art has to provide meaning in your life through engaging and thought provoking aesthetic experiences.
A unique perspective
Raised bilingual in the multicultural metroplex of El Paso, TX, and living as a bi-coastal visual artist, Parra has you in mind when he creates forward thinking, socially relevant art.
Being an art educator, curator and writer has shaped his work as an artist, taking a long-term approach to his painting career, hustling to protect his studio time, and adding value to the community.
Space and the stories we tell ourselves
Parra’s paintings draw upon tropes of the horrific, mid-century aesthetics and politics to ask questions about the origins of certain, current sociopolitical narratives in the vernacular of pictorial construction. He makes original compositions that conflate his personal history and knowledge with mid-century historical narratives in order to view important, current social concerns through the lens of history. This serves as an entryway into a process of constructing images that draw on our conceptions of space and the stories we tell ourselves in order to navigate the environments we build.
Latest group exhibition
Peralta Colleges District-Wide Faculty Invitational
June Steingart Gallery at Laney College
Oakland, CA
September 4 – October 15, 2024
Reception: September 18, 4 - 6pm
“My first exhibition, outside of school, came about through an open call. I had just moved to Brooklyn after graduate school and I responded to an open call published by a reputable gallery looking for Brooklyn based artists and the rest as they say, is history!”
—Erik Parra
