cpdesign - chris parry artist

2005 saw the development of the iconic in my works, building on the landscapes of 2004 these works explored the concept of narrative in painting. Iconic forms selected from my life were suspended over the kitsch ground developed in 2004. Artist Henry Darger was very influential as were now iconic New Zealand artists like Shane Cotton, artists which drew on their own selection of leit motif to form the narrative of their works. There is a long history of this motif based painting and this year was about exploring this explicitly representational style to create this series 'My People My Stories'.









2005 Catalogue.
Design Concept: A.J. Donald
Text: Shion Hasimoto
Images: Chris Parry

Review.

With the presence of overtly iconic figures, Chris Parry's semi-abstract paintings bring an unexpected sense of familiarity to a chaotic outlook. Most paintings consist of a bizarre melange of iconic figures, such as images of Virgin Mary, tractors, native birds and indigenous icons, seemingly yet unnaturally all interconnected to mold into this mutation like form, invading the sky painted underneath.

The painting process almost always begins with the artist literally creating an illusionistic space in which to place his objects. By using airbrush and spray paint, he paints a rather ironically beautiful sky. Never of pure but ignorant kind, it is a sort of idealistic sky that is presented through fantastic or classical paintings. However in the latest paintings the sky is much more obviously distressed, with black smoke and layering of grotesque texture.

The figures are painted with enamel paints, originally intended to be used for colouring plastic model kits. They give off a seductive glossiness yet at the same time bring the feel of cheapness, maybe alluding to the sensibility of consumer culture. Take the depiction of Virgin Mary for example; through the carefree manner of depiction and through assimilation into insignificant compositional elements, it becomes bereft of its aura and the authority of it's original context. It looks as if every figure has equal weight.

With the inclusion of many iconic figures, the work inevitably draws up links to the real world; political, cultural and religious nuance is evident. However Parry's paintings are far from propaganda art, as his paintings do not present any particular voice or stance. It also possesses the sense of intimacy, as if we are exploring the artists inner world.

There is overall a feel of disturbance in the atmosphere, partly deriving from the sickening synthetic colour or the mixing of adolescent innocence (depictions of little girls reminiscent of Henry Darger's) with the discharged anxiety of the post-glory. This is just one subjective reading of his work.

Despite their bizarreness, Parry's paintings remain ambiguous in meaning or intention, giving the audience freedom to imagine according to our own empirical thoughts.

His method of intermixing various iconic imagery recall the practice of the artist providing an environment for various figures with specific associations to make them interact with the spectator. However, Chris Parry's paintings show an inclination to be more psychological and self exploratory, an element he may extend further.

Shion Hasimoto