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Past Exhibitions

John Parker

Singularities

27 Sept - 22 Oct 2014

Exhibition Works

Lime Green Ring [14-126]
Lime Green Ring [14-126] (2014)
Lime Green Dome [14-117]
Lime Green Dome [14-117] (2014)
Lime Green Conical Bowl [14-138]
Lime Green Conical Bowl [14-138] (2014)
Lime Green Conical Vase [14-136]
Lime Green Conical Vase [14-136] (2014)
Matt Purple Ring [14-128]
Matt Purple Ring [14-128] (2014)
Matt Purple Conical Necked Bottle [14-144]
Matt Purple Conical Necked Bottle [14-144] (2014)
Matt Mauve Cone [14-145]
Matt Mauve Cone [14-145] (2014)
Matt Purple Conical Bowl [14-148]
Matt Purple Conical Bowl [14-148] (2014)
Matt Blue Dome [14-105]
Matt Blue Dome [14-105] (2014)
Matt Blue Portal [14-103]
Matt Blue Portal [14-103] (2014)
Matt Blue/Green Zig-Zag Ring [14-123]
Matt Blue/Green Zig-Zag Ring [14-123] (2014)
Blue/Green Portal [14-102]
Blue/Green Portal [14-102] (2014)
Shiny Blue Ring [14-129]
Shiny Blue Ring [14-129] (2014)
Burgundy Dome [14-120]
Burgundy Dome [14-120] (2014)
Burgundy Cone [14-109]
Burgundy Cone [14-109] (2014)
Matt Blue Conical Necked Bottle [14-143]
Matt Blue Conical Necked Bottle [14-143] (2014)
Matt Blue Orb [14-112]
Matt Blue Orb [14-112] (2014)
Shiny Blue Ring [14-131]
Shiny Blue Ring [14-131] (2014)
Matt Purple Conical Necked Bottle [14-147]
Matt Purple Conical Necked Bottle [14-147] (2014)
Matt Purple Cone [14-141]
Matt Purple Cone [14-141] (2014)
Matt Lime Portal [14-118]
Matt Lime Portal [14-118] (2014)
Lime Green Cone [14-116]
Lime Green Cone [14-116] (2014)
Lime Green Conical Vessel [14-133]
Lime Green Conical Vessel [14-133] (2014)
Lime Green Cone [14-140]
Lime Green Cone [14-140] (2014)
Matt Blue/Black Ring [14-132]
Matt Blue/Black Ring [14-132] (2014)
Matt Turquoise Portal [14-101]
Matt Turquoise Portal [14-101] (2014)
Matt Black/Green Cone [14-107]
Matt Black/Green Cone [14-107] (2014)
Matt Green/Black Conical Necked Bottle [14-115]
Matt Green/Black Conical Necked Bottle [14-115] (2014)
Matt Blue/Black Grooved Orb [14-114]
Matt Blue/Black Grooved Orb [14-114] (2014)
Matt Blue/Black Zig-Zag Ring [14-122]
Matt Blue/Black Zig-Zag Ring [14-122] (2014)
Matt Blue/Green Zig-Zag Ring [14-125]
Matt Blue/Green Zig-Zag Ring [14-125] (2014)
Matt Blue/Black Grooved Cone [14-111]
Matt Blue/Black Grooved Cone [14-111] (2014)
Matt Blue Ring [14-130]
Matt Blue Ring [14-130] (2014)
Matt Blue Conical Vase [14-137]
Matt Blue Conical Vase [14-137] (2014)
Matt Lilac Blue Necked Bottle [14-149]
Matt Lilac Blue Necked Bottle [14-149] (2014)
Matt Blue Conical Bowl [14-146]
Matt Blue Conical Bowl [14-146] (2014)
Matt Blue Orb [14-113]
Matt Blue Orb [14-113] (2014)
Matt Lilac Conical Necked Bottle [14-142]
Matt Lilac Conical Necked Bottle [14-142] (2014)
Matt Blue Conical Vessel [14-139]
Matt Blue Conical Vessel [14-139] (2014)
Matt Blue Conical Vessel [14-134]
Matt Blue Conical Vessel [14-134] (2014)
Matt Blue Ring [14-127]
Matt Blue Ring [14-127] (2014)
Matt Blue/Green Dome [14-104]
Matt Blue/Green Dome [14-104] (2014)
Matt Blue/Black Zig-Zag Ring [14-121]
Matt Blue/Black Zig-Zag Ring [14-121] (2014)
Matt Blue Grooved Cone [14-110]
Matt Blue Grooved Cone [14-110] (2014)
Matt Black/Green Dome [14-106]
Matt Black/Green Dome [14-106] (2014)
Matt Blue Ring [14-124]
Matt Blue Ring [14-124] (2014)
Matt Lilac Conical Necked Bottle [14-150]
Matt Lilac Conical Necked Bottle [14-150] (2014)
Matt Blue Cone [14-135]
Matt Blue Cone [14-135] (2014)
Matt Blue/Black Cone [14-108]
Matt Blue/Black Cone [14-108] (2014)

Exhibition Text

“Parker’s career is characterised by a constant testing of the boundaries of ceramic art.” (1)

“… I’ve liked the idea of setting up rules. I’ve always loved this kind of mind-game. You can only make cylinders, cones and spheres. The more you limit yourself the more you create possibilities. My shows have always been about very simple ideas and concepts. But I don’t work them out ahead. The exhibition forms as I work. One piece leads to another. I’m interested in my work being seen as a coherent body, as a group.” (2)

“I really love setting up problems for myself and solving them.” (3)

The genesis of the new techniques and astute manipulation of variables evident in this new body of work occurred three years ago when a group of potters got together one Sunday at the Auckland Studio Potters Centre to test Cone 6 glazes. In that process, John Parker rediscovered his passion for glazes and testing.

“My new work involves using the chemicals cobalt and chrome as colouring oxides, rather than using commercially prepared stains. The differing base glaze compositions can affect cobalt ranging from deep blue, through mauve to purple and give lime greens, yellows and grape to burgundy from chromium. The results vary widely from firing to firing.” (4)

Parker’s well-known forms, remarkable for their formal resolve and technical perfection, become in Singularities noticeably painterly, delivering abstract minimalist concerns and spatial dialogues through the role played by the new glazes. These glazes are used thinly and as such are variable, unpredictable. The glazes enable the objects to assert a presence, whether wall-mounted or on a table-top surface, that is individual - with the negative space around becoming recessive in nature. There is still a clear and strong stylistic link to what preceded them – this is witnessed in the tonal variables and formal elegance, the descending, ascending and radiating rhythms of repetition, and in the fundamental minimalist aesthetic at the centre of all of Parker’s ceramics.

1. John Parker, John Parker: Ceramics, David Bateman Ltd in association with City Gallery Wellington, 2002, inside cover.
2. John Parker, interviewed by Jim Barr and Mary Barr in “Radiating Excellence,” John Parker: Ceramics, David Bateman / City Gallery Wellington, 2002, p. 15.
3. Ibid, p. 16.
4. John Parker, Singularities, Artist Statement.

exhibition catalogue

Milford Galleries Dunedin

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