“Her work is complex, exhilarating, visually exciting, and intellectually challenging.” Robert Wolterstorff, Director, The Bruce Museum

Leslie Parke’s paintings feature complex layers of color and gesture that are worked until the surface vibrates with an energetic field that reflects and refracts light…. an Aurora Borealis in a zip-lock bag. Themes of light, transparency and reflection are explored through everyday objects such as shrink-wrapped cargo and colorful threads, creating a tension between what is real and what is perceived. 

Parke began her career in the shadow of New York’s postwar art movements during the second half of the twentieth century, following the Color Field artists Helen Frankenthaler, Kenneth Noland and Jules Olitski. Like so many American painters from that era, Parke has spent a lifetime attempting to reconcile the still-estranged parallel universes of representation and abstraction.

Now in her fifth decade as a painter, all of her many languages have broken loose of their constraining mooring to strict realism, and Parke has fully embraced a new kind of representationally founded abstraction that is entirely her own.

Leslie Parke is a recipient of the Esther and Adolph Gottlieb Grant for Individual Support, the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest grant as artist-in-residence at the Claude Monet Foundation in Giverny, France, and the George Sugarman Foundation Grant, among others. Her exhibits include the Williams College Museum of Art in Williamstown, Massachusetts, the Museum of the Southwest in Midland, Texas, the Fernbank Museum in Atlanta, Georgia, the Milwaukee Art Museum in Wisconsin, the Bennington Museum, and the Museo de Arte Moderno in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Parke has a BA and MA from Bennington College in Vermont. Her work is in numerous museum and corporate collections.

RESUME

  • 2020
    Sudden Light, Soprafina Gallery, Boston, Massachusettes 

    2019
    Continuous Flow, Gremillion and Company, Fine Arts, Inc., Houston, Texas 

    2018
    Soprafina Gallery, Boston, Massachusettes
    Martin-Mullen Art Gallery, SUNY Oneonta, Oneonta, New York

    2017
    Cross MacKenzie Gallery, Washington, DC

    2016
    Particle/Wave: Photographs by Leslie Parke, Bennington Museum, Bennington, Vermont
    Particle/Wave Photographs, Soprafina Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts

    2015
    Everything is Real, Gremillion & Co., Fine Arts, Houston, Texas
    Soprafina Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts

    2014
    Southern Vermont Art Center, Manchester, Vermont

    2013
    Cross MacKenzie Gallery, Washington, DC

    2011
    What Remains, Gremillion & Co., Fine Arts, Houston, Texas
    The Feick Art Gallery, Green Mountain College, Poultney, Vermont

    2010
    Gibsone Jessop Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
    Gremillion &Co. Fine Arts, Inc. Dallas, Texas

    2008
    Leslie Parke: Regional Artist Series, Bennington Museum, Bennington, Vermont 

    2007
    David Zapf Gallery, San Diego, California

    2006
    Gibsone Jessop Gallery, Toronto, Ontario

    2004
    David Barnett Gallery, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

    2003
    Gibsone Jessop Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
    Hopper House, West Nyack, New York 

    2002
    Gremillion & Co. Fine Arts, Inc., Houston, Texas 

    2001
    Longstreth and Goldberg, Naples, Florida

    2000
    David Barnett Gallery, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
    The Weight of Pearls: The Still Life Paintings of Leslie Parke, Usdan Gallery, Bennington College, Bennington, Vermont
    Bennett Galleries, Knoxville, Tennessee

    1999
    Desire and Discipline: The Boxing Paintings of Leslie Parke San Diego, Hall of Champions Sports Museum, San Diego, California
    Roberge Gallery, Palm Desert, California

    1998
    Eclectic Vision: Leslie Parke, Museum of the Southwest, Midland, Texas

    1995
    Galerie in Filmhaus Saarbrucken, Landeshauptstadt Saarbrucken der Oberburgemeister (Civic Arts Center), invitation by the City of Saarbrucken for solo exhibition. 

    1992
    Galerie Etienne de Causans, Paris, France

    1988
    Leslie Parke: The Giotto Series, Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, Massachusetts

    1982
    Inside Track, collaboration with composer Henry Brant, The Holland Festival, Amsterdam and The Hague, Netherlands      

  • 2020

    Clear Vision, curated by John Cino, MOCA - LI, Patchough, New York
    On the Edge and Off the Grid, Quidley & Co., Naples, Florida
    Liminal: Amanda Church, Paula De Luccia, Beth Kaminstein, Lauren Olitski & Leslie Parke, Sanger Gallery, Key West, Florida

    2019
    Borderlands: Artists from the VT/NY Line, Freik Art Center, Green Mountain College, Poultney, Vermont

    2018
    JoAnn Axford, Jeri Eisenberg and Leslie Parke, The Laffer Gallery, Schuylerville, New York

    2017
    Photographs by Leslie Parke and Ceramics by Beth Kaminstein, Cross MacKenzie Gallery, Washington, DC

    2015
    Real/Abstract, North Main Gallery, Salem, New York

    2013
    Contemporary Trompe L’Oeil John F. Peto Studio Museum, Island Heights, New Jersey 
    NYFA MARK Artists, Islip Art Museum, East Islip, New York 

    2012
    Assemblages, Gremillion and Company, Fine Arts, Inc., Dallas, Texas

    2011
    Mark X: Troy Artists, Martin Mullen Art Gallery at SUNY Oneonta, New York

    2008
    Galerie Aqui Siam Ben, A.I.R. Vallauris, Vallauris, France

    2003
    Walsh Gallery, Seton Hall University, South Orange, New Jersey

    2002
    Figurative Works, Armory Art Center, West Palm Beach, Florida 
    Burpee Museum of Natural History, Rockford, Illinois
    Virtue,College of Visual Arts Gallery, College of Visual Arts, St. Paul, Minnesota

    1996
    Frequencies of Nature, Tallahassee Museum of History and Natural Science,  Tallahassee, Florida

    1995
    Frequencies of Nature, Fernbank Museum of Natural History, Atlanta, Georgia 
    New American Talent, Laguna Gloria Art Museum, Austin, Texas
    Predatory Vision, Richard F. Brush Art Gallery, St. Lawrence University, Canton, New York

    1993
    Visual Voices: The Female, University of West Florida, Pensacola, Florida 
    States of the Art, AI.R. Gallery, New York, New York, curator, Lowery Sims
    Form, Shape and Vision, Schick Art Gallery, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York
    Contemporary Works: Small Format, Cité Universitaire, Paris, France

    1992
    Contemporary Artists for Global Peace, Casa Argentina en Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
    America 500: The Contemporary Discovery and Rediscovery of America, Compton-Goethals Gallery, City College of New York, New York, traveling exhibition 

    1991
    Sensibilities Galerie Moderne et Contemporaine, Paris, France 

    1990
    Recent Trends in Works of Art on Paper, Museo de Arte Moderno, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    1985
    Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

    1984
    Hyde Collection, Glens Falls, New York
    Haswell's Mill 1784 - Papermaker's Palette, Bennington Museum, Bennington, Vermont,

  • 2016
    A.I.R. Vallauris, residency in Vallauris, France

    2014
    Marijo Dougherty and Norman Bauman Award

    2011
    Esther and Adolph Gottlieb Individual Support Grant

    2010
    New York Foundation for the Arts MARK Program Fellowship

    2009
    Lower Adirondack Regional Arts Council Arts Initiative Award

    2008
    A.I.R. Vallauris, two-month residency in Vallauris, France

    2005
    George Sugarman Foundation Grant

    2002
    Armory Art Center Award, West Palm Beach, Florida

    1994
    Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Foundation International Artist, a program of Arts International, five-month residency in Giverny, France
    Itzhak Sankowsky Award, Main Line Art Center, Color Now exhibition

    1993
    Selected Artist, New American Paintings, Mid-Atlantic Edition, Open Studio Press
    Honor Award, Interfaith Forum on Religion, Art and Architecture Visual Arts Award Program, for the Giotto Series

    1974-76
    Fellowship, Bennington College Master of Fine Arts Program

  • Documentaries:

     1993       Soundperson, assistant camera, archival material from Watch Me Now (see below) used in Fallen Champ: The Untold Story of Mike Tyson, a Barbara Kopple documentary.

    1984       Associate producer, soundperson, assistant camera, Expectations, a Michael Marton documentary on the unemployed steelworkers of east Los Angeles who banded together to feed 40,000 unemployed people in the area. (Produced by Suddeuche Rundfunk –SDR—Stuttgart, Germany and the Labor Institute of Public Affairs (LIPA). Aired on PBS and SDR.

     Soundperson, America Works, a LIPA television series on issues that effect workers. Episode on taxes. (PBS broadcast.)

     1983       Soundperson, assistant camera, America Works, two episodes, one on prescription drug legislation in Pennsylvania, the other on food banks in California. (National television, rebroadcast on PBS.)

     1982       Soundperson, assistant camera, Watch Me Now, a Michael Marton documentary about young boxers at Cus d'Amato's gym in the Catskills fighting their way to the top.  One of the boxers featured is fifteen-year-old Mike Tyson. (PBS and SDR.)

     1984       Script, soundperson, assistant camera, American Trap, a Michael Marton documentary about two young trappers trying to survive. (SDR and WMHT, Schenectady, NY.)

     1980     Soundperson, assistant camera, research, The Unsettled Ashes, a Michael Marton documentary on Oscar Pinkus, a holocaust survivor who returns to Germany to testify against his Nazi tormentor. (WMHT)

     Soundperson and assistant camera, On the Nature of Music, a Michael Marton documentary on the innovative spatial composer Henry Brant.

     Soundperson and assistant camera, Marylou at Saratoga, a Michael Marton documentary on wealthy socialite Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney. (WMHT)

     1978       Soundperson, assistant camera, " . . . in daylight and cool white", a Michael Marton      documentary on artist Dan Flavin.

     Research and development, What One Man Can Do, a Norbert Bunge documentary on Upton Sinclair.

  • 1976 – MA
    Bennington College, Bennington, Vermont

    1974 – BA
    Bennington College, Bennington, Vermont 

    1973
    The Whitney Museum Independent Study Program, New York, New York

  • A.I.R. Vallauris, Vallauris, France

    Avon Corporation, New York, New York

    Architects Collective, Tulsa, Oklahoma

    Baker & Botts, Houston, Texas

    Banks, Pickett, Gruen, and Shapiro, Mt. Kisco, New York

    Benton Foundation, Washington, DC

    Bennington Museum, Bennington, Vermont

    Brown-Richter Animal Hospital, Coral Gables, Florida

    Caesar's Tahoe, Lake Tahoe, Nevada

    Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, New York, New York

    X. Carnoy Architecte, Ville d'Avray, France

    Chesbro-Mitchell, New York, New York

    Citibank, Los Angeles, California

    Comdisco Equities, New York, New York

    Community Guardian Bank, Englewood Park, New Jersey

    Crowne Plaza Hotel, Los Angeles, California

    Cruise Services, Inc., Miami, Florida

    DeVos, Inc., New York, New York (1 World Trade Center, now destroyed)

    Diversity Property Investments, Maryland

    Edwards & Angell, LLP, Short Hills, New Jersey

    Ellington Club & Restaurant, Dallas, Texas

    Embassy Suites Hotel, San Antonio, Texas

    Embassy Suites Hotel, Santa Clara, California

    The First Albany Corporation, New York, New York

    Flomatic, Glens Falls, New York

    Ann Garett Jewelry, Tulsa, Oklahoma

    General Electric, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

    Greater Media, Inc., East Brunswick, New Jersey

    Greenberg, Traurig, et al, Miami, Florida

    Griffith Associates, Coral Gables, Florida

    Harvard Business School, Cambridge, Massachusettes

    The Hay Group, Minneapolis, Minnesota

    Holiday Inn, Milipetas, California

    IBM, Shady Grove, Maryland

    IBM, New York, New York

    IBM, Cary, North Carolina

    Jewish Community Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

    Kaiser Permanente, Dallas, Texas

    Kidde Corporation, Saddle Brook, New Jersey

    Labor Institute of Public Affairs (AFL-CIO), Washington, D.C.

    LeBoeuf Lamb Leiby & McCrea, New York, New York

    M Bank Las Colinas, Dallas, Texas

    Marketing Directors, New York, New York

    Markle Foundation, New York, New York

    McMahon/Oliphant Properties, Santa Ana, California

    MKI Securities, New York, New York

    MONY Financial Services, Teaneck, New Jersey

    MONY Financial Services, New York, New York

    Murdoch Magazines, Secaucus, New Jersey

    NuMedia Corp., Washington, D.C.

    Pacific Telephone, Los Angeles, California

    Phillips Petroleum, Tulsa, Oklahoma

    Pringle Resources, Austin, Texas

    Quarles, Brady, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

    Rahr-West Museum, Manitowoc, Wisconsin

    Ragu Foods, Inc., Trumbull, Connecticut

    Rorer Pharmaceuticals, Fort Washington, Pennsylvania

    Safra Bank, Miami, Florida

    Shelton-Boles, New York, New York

    Schlumberger, Houston, Texas

    Skanska, Houston, Texas

    The Singer Company, New York, New York

    Sheraton Racine Hotel, Racine, Wisconsin

    Southeast Banking, Miami, Florida

    Takasago Flavors and Fragrance Co., Rockleigh, New Jersey

    Tass Corporation, London, United Kingdom

    Thomas + Betts Corp., Bridgewater, New Jersey

    TRW, Lyndhurst, Ohio

    Vandenhquvel Dineen, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

    Wallboard Tool Company, Long Beach, California

    Winn Corporation, Las Vegas, Nevada

    WHQT Radio, Coral Gables, Florida

    Zack Shuster Gallery, Boca Raton, Florida

  • Represented by:

    ELLIO FINE ART
    3201 Allen Parkway,
    Suite 180
    Houston, TX 77019

    218-660-1832 |     EllioFineArt.com

    SOPRAFINA GALLERY
    55 Thayer Street
    Boston, MA 02118

    617.728.0770 | Soprafina.com

    Elizabeth Moss Galleries
    251 UN Route One
    Falmouth, ME 04105

    207-781-2620 | ElizabethMossGalleries.com

  • Buy all publications here:

    • UNIFIED FIELD

    • A YEAR INSIDE

    • CONTINUOUS FLOW

    • PARTICLE / WAVE

    • EVERYTHING IS REAL

    • LESLIE PARKE PAINTINGS

    • WHAT REMAINS