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
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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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
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How to Build a Foghorn
Samuel Freeman presents How to Build a Foghorn, an exhibition with Mie Olise, Erik Parra, Craig Kauffman and Bridget Beck.
Alongside the Noble and the Spledid
42 in. x 54 in.
Acrylic, Marker and spray paint on canvas
2016
How to Build a Foghorn
July 16- August 27
Opening Reception July 16 from 5 -8pm
Samuel Freeman Gallery
2639 S. La Cienega Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90034
Greetings friends. I wanted to let you know that I have been hard at work making some new paintings and three-dimensional paintings (sculptures) that will be part of an installation I will be building, starting later this week! The dust is almost settled and then we can celebrate. I hope that you will be able to join me in LA for the opening, if not I will certainly be posting a lot of images. Please check back for more news.
Thank you for your support, as you know, it means the world to me.
Kindly,
Erik Parra
From the Samuel Freeman website:
"Samuel Freeman presents How to Build a Foghorn, an exhibition with Mie Olise, Erik Parra, Craig Kauffman and Bridget Beck. These artists translate the hidden language of the man-made landscape through painting, drawing, printmaking and sculpture. We navigate our daily passage through a subconscious negotiation where expectations are met constantly and unnoticeably, but when the fog rolls in it creates an ambiguous environment without the normal cues for location or definition. The gathered works in How to Build a Foghorn do not so much warn of impending danger as reveal a different understanding of the reality all around us. Expected constructions shape-shift into novel configurations, ships, tree houses, benches and structures, while flowers become skyscrapers who have simply forgotten that scale is a matter of perspective."
For more information please click here.
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Perpetual Sunset
Erik Parra has been invited to participate in a group exhibition titled Perpetual Sunset at 2731 Prospect Contemporary Art in Cleveland, OH.
Arrangement with Bunny and Striped Vase
I am happy to share that I have been invited to participate in a group exhibition titled Perpetual Sunset at 2731 Prospect Contemporary Art in Cleveland, OH. The exhibition opens this Saturday, June 17 and will run through July 30, 2016. I will also be giving an Artist talk at the gallery on Saturday July 23 at 2:00pm, so if you are going to be in Cleveland or know anyone who will be please let them know! A bit about the exhibit from the 2731 Prospect website:
“Perpetual Sunset features new work in painting and print media by Brandon Juhasz, Aaron Koehn and Erik Parra. This trio of artists are linked via their mutual interest in fabricated realities that seem to be subversively lurking in every corner of contemporary life. Their works collectively examine the odd visual and psychological slippages that occur within a swirl of glossy corporate branding, stock advertising imagery and manufactured interior spaces .…”
For more information about this exhibit please click here.
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In This Place
Erik Parra is participating in the upcoming c2c/wc project space show, In This Place.
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).
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each devil his own
Transmission Gallery is pleased to present the work of Erik Parra. each devil his own will be an exhibition of paintings, drawings and a site specific installation.
Foyer No. 1
Acrylic, Spray Paint and Marker on Panel
14in. x 11in.
2015
Foyer No. 2
Acrylic, Spray Paint and Marker on Panel
14in. x 11in.
2015
each devil his own
December 4, 2015 - January 23, 2016
Opening Reception: Friday, December 4th 6-9pm
Transmission Gallery, 770 West Grand Avenue, Suite A, Oakland, CA 94612
Transmission Gallery is pleased to present the work of Erik Parra. each devil his own will be an exhibition of paintings, drawings and a site specific installation that draws on 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. In three small series of original compositions Parra conflates 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.
Interior with bricks, stairs and hutch
Acrylic with marker and spray paint
11in. x 14in.
2015
For this exhibition the interior plays host to a range of potential conversations related to aesthetics, politics and history. Central to this exhibition is an examination of postwar historical narratives; such as white flight and the American space program and their challenging effects on contemporary society. Both darkness and lightness are employed to present not only familiar looking interior spaces but also for their expressive narrative effect. Objects within each painted interior are chosen for the potential of their symbolic form to be both simultaneously loaded and banal. This duality then resonates with similar formal choices within the work and drives the potential to open new space to create productive dialogue with the attendant issues. Parra is interested in drawing on our collective cultural memory as informed by the histories of painting, film, aggressive underground music and radical politics in order to paint a critical, collective self-portrait at a very critical time.
There will be an opening reception Friday, December 4th 6-9pm.
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Botanica: All Things Plant Life
Erik Parra is participating in a group exhibition titled Botanica: All Things Plant LIfe at the Bedford Gallery at the Lesher Center for the Arts.
Still Life with Diamond Hutch and Arrangement 3
Ink, marker and watercolor on paper
15in. x 11in.
2015
Botanica: All Things Plant Life
A National Juried Exhibition
July 12 – September 6, 2015
I am extremely excited to be participating in a group exhibition titled Botanica: All Things Plant LIfe at the Bedford Gallery at the Lesher Center for the Arts.
The exhibit runs from July 12 through September 6, 2015. An opening reception will be held on Sunday July 12, from 3- 5 pm, admission is $5.
Unfortunately I will miss the opening as I will be in Buffalo, but I am available for a walk through of the exhibit upon my return to San Francisco in late July. If you are interested please send me a message.
About Botanica, from the Bedford Gallery website:
“From 16th Century Flemish painters, to Cézanne and the Post Impressionists, the color and variety found in plant life, as well as the potent symbolism, has made it a popular subject for still lifes and artist studies. Botanica asks artists to draw on these themes to create artwork that explores how plant life can be represented in a diverse reach of media.”
For more information about the exhibit please click here, and for more about the Bedford Gallery please click here.
