Michael Parkes
Encyclopedia
Michael Parkes is an American-born artist living in Spain who is best known for work in the areas of fantasy art
and magic realism
. He specializes in painting, stone lithography
and sculpture. Parkes' work is widely available in the form of self published mass production
poster prints and nine published books.
. As a student, Parkes was fascinated by various graphic processes, and he later became proficient in the difficult medium of the colour stone lithograph. Many of his recent works have been produced as Aurographics, limited edition giclée
prints.
His unique style evolved in isolation, after a period in which he gave up the practice of art altogether and went to India
in search of philosophical illumination, a location that he and his wife continue to visit annually.
Early on, he painted in the generally abstract expressionist
style common among his teachers. However, he later began to draw and paint in a meticulous style of detailed representation. This style is realistic in principle, but often uses magical subject matter, with imagery drawn from a range of traditions including the cabalistic
and the tantric
. Strange beasts encounter mysterious winged women, good and evil fight out their eternal conflict.
Several of Parkes' works have been used as cover illustrations, including:
A Parkes sculpture, Angel Affair (2004), was the Sep/Oct 2004 cover illustration for the Dutch-language Fine Arts Magazine, which also contained a feature article on one of Parkes' exhibitions in the Netherlands.
Lisa Starry of Scorpius Dance Theater, Phoenix Arizona in 2007 choreographed a contemporary dance presentation based on the works of Parkes. Also in 2007, Parkes was invited to exhibit a painting of his own vision of Venus
at an international exhibition of 35 magic realism
artists in Denmark.
In 2009, one of Parkes' paintings, The Three Graces, is repeatedly mentioned in Dan Brown
's novel The Lost Symbol. Parkes was interviewed for his interpretation of the symbolic use of his art in Brown's book by Daniel Burstein.
Fantasy art
Fantasy art is a genre of art that depicts magical or other supernatural themes, ideas, creatures or settings. While there is some overlap with science fiction, horror and other speculative fiction art, there are unique elements not generally found in other forms of speculative fiction art...
and magic realism
Magic realism
Magic realism or magical realism is an aesthetic style or genre of fiction in which magical elements blend with the real world. The story explains these magical elements as real occurrences, presented in a straightforward manner that places the "real" and the "fantastic" in the same stream of...
. He specializes in painting, stone lithography
Lithography
Lithography is a method for printing using a stone or a metal plate with a completely smooth surface...
and sculpture. Parkes' work is widely available in the form of self published mass production
Mass production
Mass production is the production of large amounts of standardized products, including and especially on assembly lines...
poster prints and nine published books.
Biography
Parkes studied graphic art and painting at the University of KansasUniversity of Kansas
The University of Kansas is a public research university and the largest university in the state of Kansas. KU campuses are located in Lawrence, Wichita, Overland Park, and Kansas City, Kansas with the main campus being located in Lawrence on Mount Oread, the highest point in Lawrence. The...
. As a student, Parkes was fascinated by various graphic processes, and he later became proficient in the difficult medium of the colour stone lithograph. Many of his recent works have been produced as Aurographics, limited edition giclée
Giclée
Giclée , is a neologism coined in 1991 by printmaker Jack Duganne for fine art digital prints made on ink-jet printers. The name originally applied to fine art prints created on IRIS printers in a process invented in the late 1980s but has since come to mean any high quality ink-jet print and is...
prints.
His unique style evolved in isolation, after a period in which he gave up the practice of art altogether and went to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
in search of philosophical illumination, a location that he and his wife continue to visit annually.
Early on, he painted in the generally abstract expressionist
Abstract expressionism
Abstract expressionism was an American post–World War II art movement. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve worldwide influence and put New York City at the center of the western art world, a role formerly filled by Paris...
style common among his teachers. However, he later began to draw and paint in a meticulous style of detailed representation. This style is realistic in principle, but often uses magical subject matter, with imagery drawn from a range of traditions including the cabalistic
Kabbalah
Kabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine...
and the tantric
Tantra
Tantra , anglicised tantricism or tantrism or tantram, is the name scholars give to an inter-religious spiritual movement that arose in medieval India, expressed in scriptures ....
. Strange beasts encounter mysterious winged women, good and evil fight out their eternal conflict.
- OMNIOmni (magazine)OMNI was a science and science fiction magazine published in the US and the UK. It contained articles on science fact and short works of science fiction...
(Dec 1980, June 1980, Nov 1981) - The Best of Omni Science Fiction, No. 6 (1983)
- Omni Best Science Fiction One (1992)
- Omni Best Science Fiction Three (1993)
- Full Spectrum 5 (1995, 1996)
- ParaSpheres: Extending Beyond the Spheres of Literary and Genre Fiction: Fabulist and New Wave Fabulist Stories (2006).
- Karma in Christianity - Charles Pradeep (2011)
A Parkes sculpture, Angel Affair (2004), was the Sep/Oct 2004 cover illustration for the Dutch-language Fine Arts Magazine, which also contained a feature article on one of Parkes' exhibitions in the Netherlands.
Lisa Starry of Scorpius Dance Theater, Phoenix Arizona in 2007 choreographed a contemporary dance presentation based on the works of Parkes. Also in 2007, Parkes was invited to exhibit a painting of his own vision of Venus
Venus (mythology)
Venus is a Roman goddess principally associated with love, beauty, sex,sexual seduction and fertility, who played a key role in many Roman religious festivals and myths...
at an international exhibition of 35 magic realism
Magic realism
Magic realism or magical realism is an aesthetic style or genre of fiction in which magical elements blend with the real world. The story explains these magical elements as real occurrences, presented in a straightforward manner that places the "real" and the "fantastic" in the same stream of...
artists in Denmark.
In 2009, one of Parkes' paintings, The Three Graces, is repeatedly mentioned in Dan Brown
Dan Brown
Dan Brown is an American author of thriller fiction, best known for the 2003 bestselling novel, The Da Vinci Code. Brown's novels, which are treasure hunts set in a 24-hour time period, feature the recurring themes of cryptography, keys, symbols, codes, and conspiracy theories...
's novel The Lost Symbol. Parkes was interviewed for his interpretation of the symbolic use of his art in Brown's book by Daniel Burstein.
Awards
- Association of Science Fiction & Fantasy Artists (ASFA) - Chesley Awards
- 1994 Best Cover Illustration: Paperback Book - Omni Best Science Fiction Three (nominee)
- 2003 Best Product Illustration - "The Court Painter" (nominee)
Further reading
- Hans Redeker [translation into English by Michael O’Loughlin]. Michael Parkes: paintings, drawings, stonelithographs, 1977-1992 Steltman Editions, Amsterdam (1993) 189 p.
- John Russell Taylor The World of Michael Parkes Steltman Editions, Amsterdam (1999), 200 pp.
- John Russell Taylor Michael Parkes: Stone Lithographs - Bronze Sculptures Steltman Editions, Amsterdam. (November 1996)
- John Russell Taylor: "The Art of Michael Parkes" Small Press Distribution; First Edition (January 2006), 215 pp.
- Marcel Salome and Claus Brusen, eds. "Dreamscape" Salbru Publishing, Amsterdam (October 27, 2006), forward by Michael Parkes, 128 pp.
- "DREAMSCAPES: Contemporary Imaginary Realism 2009" Publisher: Imaginary Editions (2009) 164 pp.