PARKS GALLERY
15th Anniversary Celebration
December 04, 2008
Parks Gallery in Taos celebrates its 15th anniversary with a group exhibition opening September 13 that includes work by some 30 artists who have been featured over the years. “It’ll be like a family reunion,” says Stephen Parks who, with his wife Joni Tickel, opened the gallery in 1993.
“Joni and I had been in art publishing for some years, which was gratifying work but a difficult way to make a living,” says Parks, who first moved to Taos in 1973. “In the summer of ’93, Melissa Zink, a good friend and an artist I’d admired since writing a review of her very first exhibition in the late ‘70s, asked if we’d like to try the gallery business and represent her. That same week, Jim Wagner, who I’d known even longer, asked the same question. It seemed like fate was conspiring to move us in a new direction. A few days later I saw a For Rent sign on the little two-story building on Guadalupe Plaza owned by Ron Kalom. I called Ron, he said, “Get over here right away, people are lined up.” I had to make a decision on the spot, and the rest is history.”
The gallery began with Zink and Wagner, along with Taos photographer Willi Wood and Coyote, NM painter Douglas Johnson. Susan Contreras from Santa Fe followed soon after. “I’d known those five and their work for a long time and had a sense that we could sell their art and make a go of it. All of them are still with us,” says Parks.
Some, like Johnnie Winona Ross and Marc Baseman have exhibited with Parks and gone on to prestigious galleries in New York. Others -- Jack Smith and Christine Taylor Patten, for example, had shows with Parks that complemented their major exhibitions at the Harwood Museum.
Parks and Tickel are especially proud of the artists they’ve “discovered” and helped launch what are now successful careers. “I first saw a little piece of Erin Currier’s 7 or 8 years ago at the Southside Bean,” Parks says. “It was a little Buddha figure composed of trash from the Bean, and Erin was making latte’s behind the counter. I suggested she get a small body of work together and bring it by the gallery. Now she’s a star and certainly one of the hottest artists in New Mexico.
“And Mical Aloni – I saw a tiny embroidery portrait of hers in a Taos Open show and was stunned by the virtuosity. She’s gone on to represent herself in Taos but we got her started with a series of very successful shows and a few years ago she had a great show at the Harwood.”
The artists who have shown at Parks cover a wide aesthetic range, from Ted Larsen’s minimalism to Victoria Carlson’s madcap imagery, Arthur Lopez’s contemporary bultos and Marsha Skinner’s deeply moving abstractions. “What draws us first is originality,” says Parks. “Then it’s vision and skill at execution, and finally something intangible, something about the chemistry between artist and dealer. It’s a family affair.”
Other artists included in the Parks Gallery 15th Anniversary exhibition are Larry Bell, Stacy Brown, Anthony Hassett, Colette Hosmer, Gendron Jensen, Joel Lage, Armond Lara, M’Liz Keefe, Carol Mothner, Robert Parker, Paul Pascarella, Holly Roberts, John Schrup, Sam Scott, Jan Sessler, Teresa Swayne, and Emily Trovillion. The exhibition opens Saturday, September 13, with a reception from 4 to 6 pm, and will be up through October 6. The gallery is at 127 Bent Street, Taos, NM 87571. For more information, call 575-751-0343 or see parksgallery.com.
