It Takes All This to be Me A solo exhibit by Kenton Parker Opening Reception
Saturday, October 8 from 7:00 to 11:00 p.m.
Primary Projects
4141 NE 2nd Avenue, Suite 104
Miami Design District
Saturday, October 8 – Sunday, November 6, 2011
Primary Projects is pleased to present It Takes All This to be Me by Los Angeles-based artist Kenton Parker in his first solo project since 2007. Borrowing and re-appropriating mainstream cultural imagery, then barraging that aesthetic with subtly aggressive visual and textual commentary, Parker subverts and subsequently defies the authority of the surfaces and personalities he encounters. Parker’s own studio reflects this trajectory in the form of crudely documented musings on sexual deviation, amusement, critical texts and instinctive responses over thousands of sheets of paper.
The opening reception for It Takes All This to be Me is free and open to the public, with complimentary beverages courtesy of 42Below Vodka and Perrier. Curated by BooksIIII Bischof, Typoe and Chris Oh, this exhibit will be on view until November 6, 2011. For more information, please visit www.primaryprojectspace.com.
In the context of the exhibits title, Parker inhabits multiple roles as the vagrant, the journalist, the graphic designer and the taco vendor, all filtered through film, sculpture, installation and traditional wall-based art. ‘My First Ralf’ is one such example; a nine-minute short film shows Parker playing ‘Frank’, a vandal for which a public service announcement is made to viewers not through the transmission of practical information, but rather through his own culture-bending acid trip.
Loosely bound to the heels of an iconic Richard Prince collage, Parker deploys his dated, 50’s-style bulletin threaded through his own YouTube videos and original photography. A miniature replica of his fully-functioning ‘Taco Shop’ will inhabit the gallery space, dressed in tiny ceramic tiles, stainless steel finishes, and Retro neon signage.
It Takes All This To Be Me will feature a selection of works created over the past four years, with a significant majority of the corpus inspired by the last ten months of the artist’s life and activities. Parker’s practice is deeply rooted in the cultural incubator that is Los Angeles.
Powered by artistic collective Primary Flight, Primary Projects is a multidisciplinary space, positioned at the heart of Miami’s Design District, which aims to explore and promote multiple forms of aesthetic expression from established and emerging artists. Utilizing extensive, and wholly specific, experience in producing street-level curatorial endeavors in Miami, the creative forces behind Primary Projects unites the commercial and critical efforts of artists, critics, curators, professionals and patrons; the result is the vital presence of an intelligent, alternative arts environment with a bold, urban sensibility delivered through a diverse range of media.
Primary Flight is a collaborative curatorial organization dedicated to the production of site-specific, street level and indoor, murals and installations. Since its inception in 2007, Primary Flight has brought together more than 150 of the world’s most influential artists to install their bodies of work live in the streets of Wynwood, the Design District and greater Miami-Dade. Launching Primary Projects at 4141 NE Second Avenue, Suite 104 in December 2010, Primary Flight uses its 4,000-square-foot space as an art lab, giving professional, established and emerging artists the opportunity to redefine the context in which their work is experienced. Primary Projects’ focus is mainly on the attitude and intellect commonly associated with defiance. Gallery Hours are Monday to Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday from Noon to 5p.m. For more information please visit www.primaryflight.com and www.primaryprojectspace.com.
“Chanel, 4141 NE 2nd Ave, Suite 104B”
Mixed Media
2010
“Taco Truck”
Custom Designed Taco Truck
2009
