Ray Allen Parker
I believe in heroic paintings — larger-than-life works that explore the human face and figure. I want my portraits to be bold but intimate, dense but revealing. I try to recreate my subjects, not just depict them, in a convincing, painterly way that simultaneously renders paint both as arresting mark and as flesh. Like the painters who have most deeply influenced me — Lucian Freud, Jenny Saville, Odd Nerdrum — I want the painting to feel like the person.
What these portraits can do, I hope, is create a desire to look more closely. The paintings ask us to look beneath the surface of appearances, to peer into the faces of others and experience a panoply of shared and sometimes conflicting emotions and sensations. In this way, my portraits reward our slow looking. I want my works to demand and hold our attention, to reveal new insights about who we are, to connect us to others and to our all-too-human selves.
Artist Bio
Ray Allen Parker grew up in rural Egypt, Arkansas, in the northeastern corner of that state. He earned a B.A. and M.A. in English from the University of Arkansas, where he took his first painting class. Following a three-decade career in retail communications and advertising, he returned to his lifelong interest in portrait and figure painting. Ray lives and works in Fayetteville, Arkansas, with his wife Mary Jean.
Inquiries
For pricing and availability, contact Boswell Mourot Fine Art at boswellmourotfineart@gmail.com or by phone 501.454.6969.