New Website
Announcing Erik Parra’s inclusion in the art auction fundraiser at Root Division Art Gallery in San Francisco California.
There is an old adage that goes “in life the only constant is change”, or something like that. This has never been more clear to me than when thinking about my portfolio website. Over the years there have been so many iterations, some I built myself and some that were built for me. I am over the moon to present the latest version which is a culmination of both, its genesis was more of a collaboration.
I am especially proud of this version for reasons that I will get into later, which reminds me, stay tuned for a forthcoming announcement about that. Two of the most important reasons I am excited about this site are it's clean design and ease of use. Additionally I am excited about being able able to highlight a variety of new and different content such as installation photographs and “other” projects in a way that just didn’t make sense or that I just didn’t have the skills to highlight in previous iterations of the site.
I would like to thank David Ellingsen at Dazed and Confucius for helping make this happen. They do amazing work over there and I highly recommend checking them out.
Root Division Auction 2025
Announcing Erik Parra’s inclusion in the art auction fundraiser at Root Division Art Gallery in San Francisco California.
I am happy to announce my participation is this fundraiser.
Thursday, October 23, 2025
HOST 6 PM | VIP 6:30 PM | EVENT 7-10 PM
Collect art, support arts education, and be inspired by artists at Root Division’s largest annual fundraising event!
We are proud to feature an eclectic mix of high quality artwork from over 160 established and emerging Bay Area artists, including plenty of shining and rising stars! The artwork is on display at Root Division’s gallery, all artwork is available for online bidding. Our Main Event will feature both a silent and a live auction (led by esteemed Bonhams Auctioneer Aaron Bastian). Check out the options to join the fun and #SupportRD below!
Proceeds directly support local artists, free art classes for Bay Area youth, and the continued success of Root Division’s unique model for keeping artists working at the heart of San Francisco.
ART FWD: 5x5x5
Parra discusses his participation in Marin Museum of Contemporary Art exhibition ART FWD: 5x5x5
This is an exciting, new to me event for which I am ever so grateful to have been asked to participate.
ART FWD: 5x5x5, is a groundbreaking exhibition featuring 155 interconnected artists. Five renowned artists — Saif Azzuz, Arleene Correa Valencia, Liam Everett, Isabella Kirkland, and Barry McGee — each selected five artists, who each chose five more. The result is a dazzling constellation of diverse artworks that together paint a portrait of Bay Area artistry and creative kinship.
For more information Click here.
Opening Night
Saturday, October 18th
5:00 - 9:30 PM | MarinMOCA, San Rafael
This is not your typical gala. No rubber-chicken dinner. No long speeches. No polite applause.
ART FWD: 5x5x5 Opening Night — where the boundaries between spectator and participant dissolve and pure creative joy reigns.
Come enjoy outstanding art, delicious food and drinks, and wild entertainment. This is art as it should be experienced: not hushed and distant but immediate, vibrant, and participatory.
Monster Drawing Rally 2025
Parra discusses his participation in Southern Exposure’s Monster Drawing Rally 2025.
I have said it before and I will definitely say it again, this is by far one of the most fun events in the Bay Area and it is a fundraiser! Come out and have a blast supporting a great Bay Area Institution that supports Artists.
Join Southern Exposure for the 2025 Monster Drawing Rally, the action-packed art-making event where you witness over 150 Bay Area artists at work and walk away with pieces from your favorite local artists for $100 or less.
This year, the Monster Drawing Rally is on Saturday, October 11, 4:00–10:00 PM, at Southern Exposure. Enjoy music, drinks available for purchase, and an art-making table for kids! Online early-bird tickets are just $25. Tickets will be available at the door for $30.
For more information click here.
EVENT INFO:
What: Southern Exposure’s 2025 Monster Drawing Rally
When: Saturday, October 11, 2025, 4:00 - 10:00 PM
Location: Southern Exposure, 3030 20th Street, San Francisco, CA 94110
Peralta Colleges Faculty Exhibition
Parra discusses his participation in the Peralta Community Colleges Faculty Art Exhibition.
I wanted to let you know that my work will be included in the forthcoming Faculty Invitational show at The Laney College Art Gallery (aka the June Steingart Gallery). The exhibition will feature works by faculty from all 4 colleges and will open on September 4 with a reception for the artists on Wednesday September 18, 2024 from 4-6pm please join me if you are able.
From the Laney College Art Gallery Website:
“The show features work by an immensely talented group of teaching artists from the art department faculties of Berkeley City College, College of Alameda, Laney College and Merrit College. Art works include paintings, prints and ceramics.
Exhibiting artists include:
J.Braman (BCC), Mary Catherine Bassett (LC), Drew Burgess (CoA), Alex Echevarria (LC), Cynthia Horn (CoA), Carolyn Martin (BCC), Barbara Obata (MC), Erik Parra (BCC), Fan Lee Warren (LC), Minoosh Zomorodinia (LC); and introducing two new faculty Barbara Obata (MC) and Logan Wood (MC).
On view: September 4 – October 15, 2024
Gallery reception: September 18, 4-6
For more information click here.
Homebody
Parra discusses how his participation in Homebody at Gallery 16 in San Francisco. This featured still life painting of flowers will be included in the exhibition
Still Life for Jolene I
Acrylic, marker and spray paint on panel
14in. x 11in.
2016
Homebody
REVEL IN THE REALM OF BEING
November 8, 2024 - January 3, 2025
Opening Reception: Friday, November 8, 6–9 PMExhibition of 7 Artists
Mary Campbell, Greg Climer, Rachel Kaye, Erik Parra,
Rachel Stallings Thomander, Cate White, and Karla Wozniak
Gallery 16 is pleased to present a group exhibition of seven Bay Area-based artists. Homebody brings together paintings, drawings, sculptures, and quilts that, together, explore what it might mean to be home.
Home means so many things – safety, family, connection with others and with yourself. Being and feeling at home is as individual an experience as existing in a body; every person has their own ideas and practices of order and stability, comfort and belonging, sharing spaces, and exploring desires. While our inner lives and the environments we inhabit are separate things, the two inform each other. In the hands of these artists, domestic objects and spaces become stages for performances of identity, labor, and fantasy. The rituals and routines of daily life become containers for boundless imagination.
Gallery 16
501 Third Street
San Francisco, CA 94107
in the cut
Parra discusses his upcoming residency and exhibition opportunity with the San Francisco Arts Education Project to be installed in their gallery space at Minnesota Street Projects in San Francisco.
This is a bit of news that I am extremely excited to announce because of my personal history of with this amazing organization. I have been granted access to their beautiful exhibition space at Minnesota Street Projects to do what I want. So I am brining my studio into the space for what I have been referring to as a hybrid residency, where I will be making work and playing around with different installation strategies.
In addition there will be two chances for community members to engage in social art making “workshops” related to the work I am currently making and there will be plenty of opportunities to see my process and to socialize. A full schedule is listed below or click through to the SFArts Education website.
From the SFArtsEd website:
“SFArtsED is thrilled to welcome artist and arts educator Erik Parra as Artist-in-Residence in the gallery, from October 5th through November 16, 2024. For this hybrid residence, Parra will be using the gallery as a studio as well as an exhibition space, simultaneously painting and exhibiting works for the public to view.”
For more information please click here.
Schedule of events:
Residency and exhibition
October 5 – November 16, 2024
Welcome reception
October 5, 4–7 PM
Collage workshop
October 12, 2–4 PM
Cloud Painting workshop
October 26, 2–4 PM
Open Studio
November 2, 4–7 PM
Closing Reception
November 9, 4–7 PM
Monster Drawing Rally 2024
Parra discusses his participation in Southern Exposure’s Monster Drawing Rally 2024.
It is indeed that time of year again! It is time for one of my all time favorite fundraisers, the super fun and always a good time fundraiser that supports an organization that is very near and dear to my heart Southern Exposure’s Monster Drawing Rally. I will be drawing at 7:20, come out and have fun while supporting this awesome organization!!
Southern Exposure MDR24
Saturday, October 19
5:00pm—10:00pm
@ The Lab
2948 16th Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
Pencil Magazine
Parra discusses his participation in the publication titled Pencil, an artist magazine dedicated to work made with pencil and paper.
I am excited to announce that my work has been selected for inclusion in the inaugural edition of Pencil Magazine! This is a gorgeous publication dedicated to work made with pencil and paper and would be a welcome addition to any collection of publications dedicated to artist’s drawings.
The magazine is 6" x 9" and has 88 pages of original artwork and writing, printed sustainably in Maine.Each copy comes with a removable dust jacket that folds out to be an 18" x 24" poster featuring artwork by Renée Gertler.
From the Pencil Website:
“Pencil Magazine is a themed print publication featuring work created entirely with graphite pencil and paper. Artists and writers are invited to respond to each publication theme through visual art, writing, or a combination of the two. The mission of Pencil Magazine is to create an opportunity for artists and writers to connect or reconnect with an unsung, basic tool for creative expression — the pencil — and to inspire our readers to make time and space for analog experiences. Research is unambiguous that our reliance on internet-enabled digital tools to communicate and consume media is negatively affecting our attention spans, ability to focus, and mental health. Pencil Magazine is an opportunity for creators and readers to reclaim their focus and connect with their creativity through analog means — by using pencil and paper.
For more information click here, to purchase a copy click here.
friend of the artist
Announcing Erik Parra’s inclusion in the book Friend of the Artist Volume 18
I am very excited to share that I have been included in Volume 18 of Friend of the Artist. This is a very handsome hard bound and beautifully printed volume, filled with the work of international contemporary artists.
From the FOA website:
"Friend of The Artist is dedicated to elevating the work of emerging artists from around the world. In our printed books, we invite jurors to help us select the top emerging artists who work in a variety of mediums. Each volume showcases the diversity of aesthetics and ideas that artists are exploring. The community we create is just as important as the book itself. By working with and interviewing artists and curators from around the world, we've forged an international community where ideas and ways of working are put on display and relationships are formed. "
For more information or to order your copy, please click here.
Oddkin
Announcing Erik Parra’s inclusion in the group exhibition Oddkin at Hashimoto Contemporary Art Gallery in San Francisco.
"Oddkin" Group Exhibition
May 4 - 25, 2024
Hashimoto Contemporary SF
For more information please click here.
Hashimoto Contemporary is pleased to present Oddkin, a group exhibition celebrating the familial nature of arts in the Bay Area.
Madison Brooks | Dennis Brown | Anjelica Colliard | Gina M. Contreras | Serena Viola Corson | Matthew Craven | Annie Duncan | James Eddy | Mary Finlayson | Maya Fuji | Mike Funkhouser | Chase Irvin | MARBIE | Christopher Martin | Alan Miknis | Austin Elfio Montanari | Erik Parra | Alexander Rohrig | Leonard Reidelbach | Sofia Shu | Lorien Stern | Ester Tuva | Ben Venom | Corrie Wille | Kristen Liu Wong | Amber Jean Young | curated by Katherine Jemima Hamilton
Opening Night Reception:
Saturday, May 4th
5pm - 7pm
Gallery Hours:
Tuesday - Saturday / 10am - 6pm
Hashimoto Contemporary SF
1275 Minnesota Street
San Francisco, CA 94107
Opening of "in this place"
Parra discusses how his work draws on collective cultural memory, conceptions of space & an examination of the stories we tell ourselves.
Still Life for Jolene I
Acrylic, marker and spray paint on panel
14in. x 11in.
2016
I am excited to announce that I am participating in the upcoming c2c/wc show, “in this place”. If you are around for the opening on Feb. 6th come through! I would love to see you and you can see one of two paintings that I started and completed in 2016!
From the Gallery's Facebook page: "the artists "in this place" document their personal position in a landscape while creating situations that can experientially teleport a viewer into that space as well. By addressing fundamental aspects of how we experience a local environment, such as angle, color, proportions, and the depiction of content, they indicate not only their physical experience of the represented space, but also how they are engaging emotionally and intellectually with their surroundings at that moment as well.
This is true whether the work exhibited is a more traditional take on landscape, such as that from Diane Olivier or Kerry Law, or a more conceptual rendition, such as work by Andrew Prayzner or Eilish Cullen. This exhibition also includes artists Robert Minervini, Erik Parra, Chris Ballantyne and Karen Schifano who utilize an approach from a middle ground between these two extremes of practice, which effectively ties the work featured in the exhibition together into a singular comment on the nature of a material existence.
The exhibition will open with a reception on Saturday, February 6 from 6-9pm. It will run through March 6 with gallery hours on Sundays from 12-5pm. c2c project space is at 1695 18th Street #413 in San Francisco (cross streets are Carolina and Arkansas).
The Space Between
The Problem with Bleached Terracotta
16in. x 20in.
Acrylic on Panel
2019
I am very excited to share that I have been included in a group exhibition titled The Space Between at Marrow Gallery in San Francisco, CA.
From the gallery:
Marrow Gallery presents The Space Between. The exhibition features the work of Erik Parra, Hiroshi Sato and Travis Weller, three Bay Area based artists whose work is an exploration of time, the constructs of environment and the artifice of intentional metaphors. Whether representing the banal (a potted plant) or the academic (a still life) the viewer begins to understand the artists intent; a declaration that there is a connection in the seemingly disconnected. The exhibition runs from January 9th until February 9th. There will be an artists reception on Saturday, January 26th from 5-7.
If you are in San Francisco I do hope that you get a moment to see this exhibition.
As always I really appreciate your support.
-Erik Parra
The Hopper Prize
Erik Parra wins the Hopper Prize granted to artists who demonstrate a serious commitment to their work.
Collection
2018
Acrylic, Spray Paint and Marker on Panel
30 x 24 inches
I am beyond excited to announce that I have been selected as one of five finalists to receive The Hopper Prize!
From The Hopper Prize website:
"The Hopper Prize was established for the sole purpose of advancing the field of visual art by providing direct financial assistance to artists in the form of unrestricted fellowships.
We view the field of visual arts in its broadest and most inclusive sense and therefore make our awards available to artists engaged in artistic practices spanning all methods of production.
Winners are determined by a panel of distinguished guest curators on the basis of artistic excellence and the promise of future potential."
To learn more, please visit their website.
Thank you very much for your support, it means the world to me!
-Erik Parra
Art Practical: Shotgun Review
Art Practical reviews Erik Parra's HIstory By Choice exhibition on view at Eleanor Harwood Gallery in San Francisco, CA.
Form Follows Function ii
20in. X 26in.
Acrylic on Panel
I feel very fortunate that intelligent people take the time to write thoughtful comments about my artwork. Here is a very thoughtful review of my exhibition titled History By Choice, recently on view at Eleanor Harwood Gallery, in San Francisco, CA.
From the review:
"Nothing is as it seems in Erik Parra’s History by Choice at Eleanor Harwood Gallery. At first glance, the paintings of domestic interiors appeared so banal that I almost passed them by, but a faint, disquieting strangeness about the depicted spaces gave me pause. Chairs float, legless. Views of the outdoors beckon, but turn out to be mere reflections in mirrors. Shadows—which typically impart dimensionality—are so stark that they flatten entire scenes into blocks of color. Parra’s refusal of depth even extends to a would-be sculpture in the gallery’s center: a painting of a sculpture, comically installed on a pedestal like a three-dimensional object, and aptly titled Function Follows Form (2017) …”
For the entire review please click here.
Thank you for your continued support!
Erik Parra
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History By Choice
Opening of Erik Parra’s first solo exhibition, History By Choice, at the Eleanor Harwood Gallery in San Francisco, CA.
Monstrous Delicious
Acrylic on canvas
75in. x 60in.
2018
I am over the moon to announce the opening of my solo exhibition titled History By Choice at the Eleanor Harwood Gallery in San Francisco, CA. The exhibition opens March 3, with a reception from 6-8pm and runs through April 14, 2018.
From the website:
"We are pleased to present Erik Parra’s first solo show with the gallery. Parra is the among the first recipients of the Liquitex Research Residency Program at Minnesota Street Project Artist Studios.
Erik Parra has exhibited internationally in alternative spaces, commercial galleries and museums in Berlin, Brazil, Los Angeles, London and New York. He was born and raised in El Paso-Juárez and currently resides in San Francisco.
His solo show, “History by Choice” explores interior spaces and how the history of design informs our emotional response to the environments we inhabit. The majority of the works in the exhibit were made during the Liquitex Research Residency located within the Minnesota Street Project Art Studios.
"Maybe it is a good thing for us to keep a few dreams of a house that we shall live in later, always later, so much later, in fact, that we shall not have time to achieve it. For a house that was final, one that stood in symmetrical relation to the house we were born in, would lead to thoughts–serious, sad thoughts–and not to dreams. It is better to live in a state of impermanence than in one of finality.”
—Gaston Bachelard, The Poetics of Space
Parra grew up in a home that was full of carefully selected Modern furniture chosen by his parents. Parra’s interest in design and the history of architecture stems from his childhood.
The title of the exhibit, ”History by Choice” comes from the book “Design by Choice” by Reyner Banham published in 1981.
For more information including images of available works please click here.
Buy a favorite book, The Poetics of Space, by Gaston Bachelard, a leading French philosopher who has had a major influence on my art practice.
(Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.)
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Cranium Corporation Interview
Interview and studio visit with artist Erik Parra, by Á.R. Vázquez-Concepción of Cranium Corporation.
Erik Parra shares his painting practice and current body of work during Cranium Corporation interview and studio visit.
I was recently invited to share my thoughts about my studio practice and current 'zine project with Á.R. Vázquez-Concepcíon at the Cranium Corporation. We get into the origin story of my current body of work and how my personal history informs this. We also talk about the "magic of painting" and I am really not sure how, but that phrase really did pop out as I responded to his question. We also discuss collage and my current ongoing book project mowa. I hope you will take a couple of minutes and listen!
Please find the interview linked here.
Thank You!
Erik Parra shares new paintings during Cranium interview and studio visit.
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Liquitex Research Residency
Erik Parra has been selected to participate in the inaugural Liquitex Research Residency Program at Minnesota Street Project, San Francisco, CA.
Still Life for Jolene III
Acrylic, Spray Paint and Marker on Panel
24in x 30in
2016
I am over the moon to announce that I have been selected to participate in the inaugural Liquitex Research Residency Program! Please check back for more updates.
From the press release:
Liquitex has partnered with Minnesota Street Project to provide four Bay Area artists fully funded residencies at 1240 Minnesota Street. Developed to support the creation, presentation and dissemination of contemporary painting practices, the residency aims to support emerging artists by providing work space, materials, resources, and engagement within the studio program at Minnesota Street Project.
....
Selected from a shortlist of emerging artists, Minnesota Street Project is honored to welcome:
Micah Wood
Erik Parra
Koak
Woody De Othello
Please note: The Liquitex Research Residency Program is annually awarded to a group of artists selected by a committee including figures from both the Project + Liquitex. The Residency does not currently accept unsolicited applications.
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Framework: Elements of Architecture
Erik Parra is included in a group exhibition entitled Framework: Elements of Architecture at North Seattle College Art Gallery.
Foyer No. 2
Acrylic, Spray Paint and Marker on Panel
14in. x 11in.
2015
I am happy to announce that I have been included in a group exhibition entitled Framework: Elements of Architecture at North Seattle College. The exhibition opens Wednesday February 1, 2017 and will run though March 17, 2017. If you are in the Seattle area, please stop by if you have time.
From the North Seattle College website:
From the beginning of time, architecture has fed the soul through ingenuity and beauty, and has also functioned simply as a roof over the head. Both capacities have inspired the artists shown here today, as they find inspiration in the sculptural qualities of a building, in the principles of construction itself, or as a stand in for the body. Essentially, these artists articulate how architecture and structure can mix. In this gallery, you will find works that cross-pollinate the building with it’s surrounding space, the past with the present, the interior with the exterior, and the impermanent with the fixed. Featured artists include: Dan Carrillo, Susan Gans, Monica Gonzalez, Kevin Haas, Myszka Lewis, Terrell Lozada, Sean Morrissey, Yoonmi Nam, Erik Parra, and Kim Van Someren.
For more information click here or here.
Thank you so much for your support.
Kindly,
Erik Parra
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In the Same River Twice
state is pleased to present In The Same River Twice, a solo exhibition by San Francisco-based artist Erik Parra.
October 15 - November 19, 2016
Opening Reception: October 15, 6-8 pm
www.statespacesf.com
1295 Alabama Street, San Francisco, CA
Gallery Hours: Tues. - Sat. 12-5pm
state is pleased to present In The Same River Twice, by San Francisco-based artist Erik Parra.
For his hometown, solo exhibition debut, the artist presents a new collection of drawings with a corresponding drawing installation, and new paintings with a corresponding painting installation. The work continues the artist’s line of inquiry into mid-century visual tropes and their intersection with the construction of the American Dream. The exhibition will be on view from October 15 - November 19, 2016 with an opening reception on Saturday October 15 from 6-8pm. The artist will be in attendance.
“If a man is never in the same river twice, how is he to know?”
This age-old philosophical statement is as much about self-reflection as it is about the constancy of change. In The Same River Twice delves into the correlation of the designed environment and failed utopias in order to examine the idea of the American Dream. The exhibition examines the stories we tell ourselves in order to navigate the structures we build.
Parra’s work centers on the the mid-century structure as a metaphor for the way major narratives about the “Greatest Generation” were shaped for public consumption. Through this lens of history, the artist aims to shed light on how decisions from the past have reverberated into our current social concerns.
Narrative unfolds through a language of pictorial construction where objects within each painted or drawn interior are chosen for their potential for symbolic form -- simultaneously loaded and banal. For instance, the artist uses unassuming tchotchkes to symbolize major public undertakings (American Exceptionalism, The Interstate Highway System and the Egyptian pyramids), prompting a dialogue about our cultural roots.
With an intense formal play on perspective, the artist offers multiple levels of access points for viewers to engage with these interiors. Upon initial observation, living rooms make sense as nostalgic, yet inhabitable spaces, but a closer look offers strange vantage points and dueling perspectives generating menacing, alien environments.
About Erik Parra
Erik Richard Parra was born and raised in the border metroplex of El Paso-Juárez. He received a Bachelors of Fine Art degree in painting from The University of Texas at Austin and completed a Masters of Fine Art while on fellowship at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Currently based in San Francisco, California, Erik has exhibited internationally in alternative spaces, commercial galleries and museums in Berlin, Brazil, Los Angeles, London and New York. In the Bay Area Erik’s work has been exhibited at Blankspace Gallery, Johansson Projects, The Headlands Center for theArts, Root Division, Southern Exposure, Kala Art Institute and the Berkeley Art Center. Erik’s work has been included in publications including New American Paintings, the SF Bay Guardian and the Los Angeles Times. Additionally Erik teaches art, has lectured at universities, given artist talks and has garnered residencies and awards. www.erikparra.com
About state
state is a new visual arts exhibition space in the Mission District of San Francisco. state exhibits contemporary art with an emphasis on Bay Area artists and project-based artwork. state is run by Danielle Smith and Kimberly Verde of FRAMEWORK.
Hours: Tuesday - Saturday 12-5pm