Born in Chicago in 1950, Chris Parker is the son of painter Robert Andrew Parker and Dorothy Parker. The oldest of five boys, Chris grew up painting alongside his father. At age 12, Chris competed in the Silvermine Artists’ Guild’s show and won the Laura M. Gross Prize for his watercolor of “The Charge of the Light Brigade,” presented to him by Thomas Messer, the longtime curator and director of the Guggenheim. At 14, Chris was invited to the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, studying with the pre-eminent artists in residency there, and became intrigued with plein air painting in oil and watercolor. Chris was invited back to Skowhegan for a junior residency at 16 and at the end of that residency was awarded a prize for greatest growth and development.
Awarded a full scholarship to the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York City at the age of 17, Chris studied there under such artistic luminaries as Eva Hesse, Malcolm Morley and Brice Marden while pursuing a degree in Fine Arts.
Living and painting in New York City, Chris was welcomed into the studios of many of the great downtown painters of the 70’s and 80’s and was never without his own sketchbook and watercolors. He also pursued his career as one of the most creative and sought-after drummers of his generation. That same sketchbook accompanied him to his sets and concerts around the globe in collaboration with many of the top rock, folk, pop, and jazz performers – Bob Dylan, Salt n' Pepa, Pavarotti, Aretha Franklin, James Brown, James Taylor, Paul Simon, Miles Davis, Lionel Hampton, Stevie Wonder, Saturday Night Live, Ledisi and Arturo O'Farrill. In the past forty years, many of those performers found their way into Chris’ sketchbooks, with many such as Gill & Tommy LiPuma, Bette Midler, Valerie Simpson and Patti LuPone becoming collectors of his art.
Selected Shows:
2018, January 19-January 21, Visual Aids at Gallery 524, New York, NY
2016, June 1-July 15, Audubon Center, Greenwich, CT
2016, Ober Gallery, Kent, CT
2014, The Howland Library, Beacon, NY
2012, Washington Art Association, Washington, CT
2004, “New Works,” Wax Music, Gary Sutcliffe Gallery, New York, NY
2000’s “Between the Fields.” White Silo Gallery, Sherman, CT “On the Road /In Town,” Sherman Library, Sherman, CT
