Biography /
Ian Parker was born in Wolverhampton and lived in England, Guyana and Nigeria as a child. Educated at Wimbledon School of Art, Kingston Polytechnic and the Royal Academy Schools, on graduating he undertook fellowships and residencies at Cardiff Institute of Higher Education and Newcastle Polytechnic. Primarily a painter, his work references the vocabulary inherited from 20th century abstraction within an expanded notion of the nature and practice of painting. He has exhibited regularly since 1977 at venues including the Hayward Gallery; Camden Arts Centre; Guildhall Art Gallery, London; Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff; Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh and Arti et Amicitiae, Amsterdam. More recent exhibitions include: Brute, ARTHOUSE1, London; Supporting Material, Herbert Read Gallery, Canterbury; Sussex Open, Towner Art Gallery, Eastbourne; Blender, The Cello Factory, London. Wells Art Contemporary, Wells Cathedral, Somerset. August / September 2021.He was elected a member of the London Group in 1998. He held full and part-time academic posts from 1980 until retiring as Head of School, School of Fine Art, UCA in 2015. He currently works part-time as a Senior Moderator for the University of the Arts (UAL) Awarding Body.
Exhibitions
2022
“Wish You/We Were Here/There” in Liechtenstein + The London Group at the Küefer Martis Huus, Liechtenstein 2021 & BOOKARTBOOKSHOP, London 2022
Winter Group Show, Linden Hall Studio, Deal, Kent December 2021- January 2022
2021
Coming Up for Air. St John’s Church Gardens, Waterloo, London. June 201
Edge to Edge. The Cello Factory, London. July 2021. (curated by Robert Dunt and Alexander Hinks)
Wells Art Contemporary. Wells Cathedral, Somerset. August / September 2021
I DIDN’T LICK IT. The Bruton Museum / The Old Pharmacy / the Dovecote Gallery. Bruton, Somerset. July – September 2021
In Plain Sight: The London Group & Thelma Hulbert and her London Group Friends. Thelma Hulbert Gallery. Honiton, Devon August – October 2021. (Curated by Tim Craven and Judith Jones)
2020
May – September (online) Wish You/We were Here/There An online/offline exhibition of London Group Members Curated by Sumi Perera.
My Favourite Work An online exhibition of London Group Members Curated by Moich Abrahams.
ISOLATION An online exhibition of London Group Members reacting to the current social and world climate.
BLENDER, The Cello Factory, London (with Bryan Benge and Srin Surti), January 2020
2019
The London Group 84th Open (Part 1), The Cello Factory, London
LG@KCC, Kensington and Chelsea College, London
IN THE DARK, The Cello Factory, London SE18TJ, 17, 18 & 19 January 2019, 2 – 6pm daily. An experimental show by The London Group, the Computer Arts Society and the Lumen Prize
2018
The London Group Christmas Exhibition, The Cello Factory, London, December 2018
The London Group at St Ives, The Penwith Gallery, Back Road West, St Ives, Cornwall
September 2018 https://penwithgallery.com/exhibition/new-gallery-london-group/
Sussex Open at Towner 2018, Towner Art Gallery, Eastbourne, July – September www.townereastbourne.org.uk
Down from London – The London Group at Linden Hall Studio. Deal, Kent. 4 – 25 February.
2017
The London Group Open 2017 (Part 2), The Cello Factory, London, 22 Nov – 1 Dec
Supporting Material (With Amanda Loomes), Herbert Read Gallery, UCA Canterbury, Kent. 11 September – 7 October 2017
The Mesh, Watermans Arts Centre, London. Exhibition open 17 March – 21 May 2017, Daily 10am – 9pm
2016
Personal Relations (Curated by hARTslane). The Cello Factory, London, 6 – 16 December 2016. Pulchri Studio, The Hague, 25 February – 29 March 2017. Mirror Gallery, Vicenza, Italy, 29 April – 4 June 2017
The London Group Annual Exhibition, The Cello Factory, London
‘The deaf canvas listens’, Kensington and Chelsea College, London
2015
The London Group Open, Part 2
BRUTE, ARTHOUSE1, London (with Srinivas Surti)
2014
From David Bomberg to Paula Rego: The London Group in Southampton, Southampton City Art Gallery
2013
+100 The London Group Today, The Cello Factory, London
The London Group Centenary Open (Part 2), The Cello Factory, London
The London Group at 100, Mottisfont Abbey, Hampshire, (Co curator)
The London Group Centenary Exhibition, Pitzhanger Manor, PM Gallery, London
2012
‘On My Behalf’, The Cumberland Hotel, Great Cumberland Place, London, (Co-curator)
400 Women at Sugar City, Haarlemmerstraatweg, Halweg, Holland
Territories & Boundaries, Kensington and Chelsea College, London
2011
London Group Open Exhibition, Part 2, The Cello Factory, London
400 Women, Canongate Venture, New Street, Edinburgh
2010
400 Women, Shoreditch Town Hall Basement, London
London Metropolitan University Library Gallery Space, Sir John Cass Department of Art Media and Design
‘13’ Group Exhibition, Chapel Row Gallery, Bath
The London Group Annual, The Cello Factory, London
reworthit! publication, (Supported by Edinburgh College of Art)
Inspiration, Kensington and Chelsea College, London
2009
drawing: act and artefact, The Morley Gallery, London
London Group Open, Part 1, Menier Gallery, London
2008
Through the Lens, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol
Small works, Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution, London
The London Group, Mauger Modern Art, Bath
Deutsche Bank 2, London
2007
Collective Response, Guildhall Art Gallery, London
London Group, Open Exhibition Part 1, Menier Gallery, London
Bridge Art Fair, Trafalgar Square, London
Wave Exhibition 2007, Ewha Womans University Art Centre, Seoul, Korea
2006
Arti et Amicitiae, Amsterdam
The London Group, Bankside Gallery, London
W.A.V.E 2006, Camberwell College of Arts & Ewha Womans University Art Centre, Seoul, Korea
The Sassoon Gallery, London
2005
The London Group, Bankside Gallery, London
2004
The Walk Gallery, London
Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution, London
Menier Gallery, London
2003
Woodlands Art Gallery, London
The London Group 90th Anniversary Exhibition, Cork Street, London
Works on Paper, Cafe Gallery, London
2002
Hinterland, Surrey Institute of Art & Design, James Hockey Gallery, Farnham
Selected earlier exhibitions:
Barbican Centre Conference Suites, London
TRANSIENT, University of Brighton Gallery
‘Off the Peg, Off the Wall’. RACK Gallery, London
Camden Annual, Camden Arts Centre, London
Battersea Arts Centre, London
Newcastle Polytechnic Gallery, Newcastle
Oriel Gallery, Cardiff
British Drawing, Hayward Gallery, London & Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh
Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff
New Contemporaries, RA, London
Educated
Wimbledon School of Art
Kingston Polytechnic
Royal Academy Schools
Qualifications
BA (Hons) 1st Fine Art
Royal Academy Schools Postgraduate Certificate
Academic Career
Various academic part-time and full posts held since 1980
(Retired as Head of School, School of Fine Art, UCA, September 2015)
Current: Senior External Moderator, University of the Arts London Awarding Body
Fellowships and residencies
Junior Fellow, Cardiff Institute of Higher Education
Painter in Residence, Newcastle Polytechnic
Awards
Arts Council grants
Works held in various private and public collections