JS Parker: A life full of colour
Internationally acclaimed artist and New Zealand Order of Merit recipient John Shotton Parker has died, aged 72.
Known as JS Parker, the Marlburian reached impressive heights in the world of arts and culture after decades of abstract creation.
Highly regarded by collectors at both home and abroad, Parker is best known for his large, colourful paintings within a grid format.
The artist, who died peacefully in his Blenheim home on Monday, has been remembered for his interpretation of the world through colour and shape.
Wife Kate Parker remembered their 45 years of marriage fondly, and said lung cancer had taken her husband much too soon.
‘‘It’s devastating for us,’’ she said. ’’It’s very hard, it has been a privilege to be with him over the years.’’
Born in Auckland in 1944, Parker studied art at Ilam School of Fine Arts at Canterbury University.
Then in 1975, Parker received the Frances Hodgkins Fellowship at Otago University.
‘‘That is a big deal in the arts world, it’s the equivalent of being picked for the All Blacks,’’ Kate said.
Parker spent most of his fellowship drawing from photographs taken out of a car window at high speed.
He later worked with oil pastels, finding his niche in bright colours and texture, before moving to oil paintings, preferring larger canvases.
Many of Parker’s works incorporated the rivers and reflections, dramatic skies and dust-blown hills of Marlborough and Canterbury.
Mary Parker said her father captured the seasons, landscapes and plains of Marlborough as the region matured over the decades.
‘‘He visually captured Marlbor- ough’s coming-of-age,’’ she said.
‘‘Despite the fact he did big, bold, abstract pieces which so many find difficult to understand, he was fairly straight-forward when he spoke about his art.
‘‘He would say, ‘you don’t need to understand, it’s beautiful colours’.’’
Parker was described in the Allgemeines Kunstlerlexikon Inter- national Art Dictionary as one of the most substantial New Zealand painters of his generation.
His contribution to the arts world was recognised in 2003 when he was awarded the Order of Merit for services to painting.
Parker was also recognised at home with a cloak, certificate and medal in honour of being named the 2014 Marlborough Living Cul- tural Treasure.
Diversion Gallery director Barbara Speedy said Parker’s death was a significant loss to the arts community.
‘‘He was dedicated to his expression of the world,’’ she said. ‘‘It taught me a new way of looking at where we live.
‘‘He left something tangible in the world and how many of us can say that?’’ The Picton gallery was named after one of Parker’s paintings of the Wairau Diversion and displayed the artist’s most recent exhibition - Colour & Scale - last year.
One of the most striking pieces in the collection was a 1.8 metre by 2.2m canvas which originally belonged to Parker’s mentor, and iconic contemporary artist, the late Ralph Hotere.
‘‘They were large-scale, gutsy paintings and they were all so damn good,’’ Speedy said. ‘‘He’s gone out on such a high-note, which is something not every artist can achieve.’’
A funeral service for Parker would be held at Cloudy Bay Funeral Services in Blenheim on Friday at 1pm.