Michael
Parkes

Michael parkes (eng. Michael Parkes, October 12, 1944) - American painter, sculptor and lithographer. Works in the fantasy and fiction genre, at the junction of magical realism, symbolism and surrealism.

Features of the artist: Michael Parkes is considered one of the founders of magical realism. And taking into account the peculiarities of the artist’s mature, mature creativity, the style of his works could be characterized as sensual magical realism.
The main and obligatory heroes of his works are women: naked, with glowing marble skin, perfect in execution, cold and perfectly impersonal. The artist deliberately never resorted to the services of posing models, so that in the images of the characters in the paintings the human individuality and specificity did not appear.
The plot of paintings is a free space filled with air and devoid of gravity.
Heroes and objects are always carefully and extremely realistic, traced in detail and give the viewer a feeling of a lively, vivid, almost real dream.
Each object of the picture, live or inanimate, simple or complex, real or fictional, becomes the simplest element. From these "bricks" the author builds his "real magical world."
It has winged women, animals, dwarfs, marionettes, mythical creatures, birds, horses, insects, flowers, rocks, clouds. And all of them, like insects in amber, are frozen in space.
In this world, elements of exquisite eroticism, symbolism, surrealism, poetry, philosophy are united by the idea of the author: they fascinate the viewer and make them look for its meaning.
In the author's style, you can discern Parkes sincere passion for work Rembrandt, Rene Magritte, Gustav Klimt, Alphonse Mucha, Giorgio de chirico. In later works, the sophisticated viewer will find influence Botticelli, Goji and Salvador Dali.

Famous paintings by Michael Parkes: "Virgo", "Gift of Miracles", "Master of Heavenly Painting".

Sculptures: "Sleepwalking", "Angel's love".

Michael Parkes in early childhood began to draw. He studied the art of painting and drawing at the University of Kansas.
In his youth, having fallen under the influence of pop culture of the 60s of the 20th century, the future star of aesthetic fine art preferred to create (rather, “get up”) in the genre of abstract expressionism and primitive avant-garde. He perfectly mastered the technique of painting and taught for four years at the University of Kansas.
In 1970, the artist decided to choose between the two main hobbies of his life: painting and philosophy. And having stopped practicing art, he and his wife went on a long four-year journey to the East in search of themselves, the Truth, and new knowledge.
He studied Buddhism, Hinduism, Tantra, Kabbalah, Eastern philosophy, esoteric teachings. After 4 years, he moved with his family to Europe, where he returned to painting classes for the financial support of the family.
Traveling and exploring other cultures allowed Michael Parkes to synthesize his own approach and style of painting and become one of the “titans” of magical realism. In addition, he became a recognized master in the painstaking and time-consuming field of creating colored stone lithography.
Since the first personal exhibition in Amsterdam back in 1977, the artist has held numerous exhibitions in Basel, Chicago, New York, Frankfurt and other cities. In 2007, based on the work of Parkes, a dance performance was created at the Scorpius Dance Theater (Phoenix, USA).
The works of the talented philosopher-painter won the hearts of people and conquered the art market: almost all the works of Michael Parkes are in private collections. Together with his wife, he opened his own publishing house Swan King International, where his works are published in the form of posters, which are also in great demand.
In 2009, one of Parkes' paintings "Three Graces" was mentioned in the novel "The Lost Symbol" by Dan Brown.
Today, the author devotes most of his time to creating sculptures, materializing the characters born of his fantasy and making them even more lively and realistic.

The author: Victoria Volkova