Richard Parker: Master of Craft

EXHIBITION PROFILE Richard Parker: Master of Craft

– Curator: Richard Fahey

Toured by Objectspace, Auckland 13 September – 30 November 2011 Official Rugby Exhibition Program 2011 at the NEW Whangarei Art Museum

@ THE HUB – Te Manawa, Town Basin, Whangarei

Richard Parker: Master of Craft surveys the career and practice of a major Northland artist and a defining figure within New Zealand ceramics. This significant survey exhibition includes works from the Whangarei Art Museum collection and works loaned from leading public and private collections around the country.

Richard Parker, Northland Craft Trust, 1987. Photograph: Rod Davies.

The curator, Richard Fahey, says "Parker had his own picture of what a pot should look like", and that although Parker's practice is grounded within the traditions of studio ceramics, "as an artist, his innovative approach seeks to redefine for us new ways we may understand the decorative object." At a pivotal moment in his career Richard Parker abandoned the known in terms of how to make a pot and what it should look like and developed his own unique ceramics vocabulary. This singular vision has sustained his career for over 30 years and produced works that are uniquely recognisable. Parker is noted for a variety of distinctive decorative forms frequently embellished with dashes, dots and dribbles in luscious glazes of red and green, black and cream, and his signature green and gold..

Accompanying the exhibition is a lavishly illustrated 120 page publication, sponsored by Northtec, where Richard is a tutor in ceramics and written by Richard Fahey. This beautiful publication describes: the local ceramics context that Parker developed within; his work and style of production; a biographical profile and a consideration of his standing in New Zealand ceramics, followed by a timeline of Parker's exemplary career. Richard Parker: Master of Craft is the first project in the Objectspace Masters of Craft series. This new series will tell the stories of outstanding and influential New Zealand practitioners whose work exemplifies the value of craftsmanship.

Objectspace is very grateful for the generous support of Creative New Zealand, NorthTec, Pasquale Viticultura, The Chartwell Trust, Unitec, and the Objectspace Donors in presenting Richard Parker: Master of Craft.

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