‘Hand held art show’ painter Parks Reece will be
at Iconoclast
By DANA DUGAN
Express Staff Writer
Iconoclast Books in Ketchum is opening its
new doors on Main Street to one subtle and appealing artist. Parks Reece, who
has lived in Livingston, Mont., for 22 years, is like the naughty boy in art
class, who makes up wise acre remarks about everyone’s work. He does the same
with his own art.
For the first time his unique art is shown
in a coffee table book, "Call of the Wild: The Art of Parks Reece." Reece will
be at Iconoclast, Saturday at 7 p.m. to promote the book, show some paintings,
and sneak in a little foot-tapping banjo playing.
Reece’s paintings have differing elements.
There’s his almost hyper sensitive feel for color. The pictures are mostly of
mountains, fish and other wildlife. But be aware, there is something else
lurking inside these small renditions: sardonic wit.
For instance, there’s one painting which
depicts two sated looking trout swimming along with cigarettes hanging out of
their mouths. It’s entitled "After the Spawn."
So, how did this Southern son of a
nationally known finger painting artist become Western nature artist as droll
observer?
"In a way, the art you do is a reflection
of your personality, if you’re doing it from the heart. I’m kind of wacko,"
Reece says. "I like the beauty of color and design and image. I also like words
and ideas and concepts that I can’t really articulate in words, so I use the
visual language."
He writes in the forward of "Call of the
Wild," "What we can see of life is only at the surface, and there is always much
more buried beneath."
His paintings are the beneath. And this
laid back and introspective attitude extends to the art world in general. "I
think it takes itself too seriously. My theory is that it’s the emperor’s new
clothes new art. There’s just not much there."
Part of his research is accomplished by
tramping about in the outdoors, often while hunting for his family’s meals. His
son, Myers, says in an essay called "Bring up Daddy" that his father often
brought home road kill to study.
"I’m always having a humorous angle;
sometimes I have a phrase or title and then more or less illustrate it. Or it’s
a juxtaposition, that’s what humor is, something where it’s not supposed to be,"
Reece said.
Sometimes that juxtaposition comments
slyly on what man has wrought on nature.
Reece hopes viewers of his art will be
amused as well as left thinking. The book includes essays by Reece’s good
friend, the travel writer Tim Cahill, journalist Scott McMillion and sonnets by
Greg Keeler.
Reece calls his book "the hand held art
show."