Exhibition Info
The first UK solo show of paintings by José Parlá opened to the public on Friday 10th October 2008.
Parlá ‘s first solo exhibition in UK, it marked an important and transitional point in his development as a painter.
It included large site specific paintings, which were painted during an extended residency at the Elms Lesters Painting Rooms, and was THE exhibition in London that Autumn.
As our society moves forward through time, ever faster and in ever more complex patterns of living, we forget our spirit – our inner growth. We believe ourselves to be on the cusp of evolution but perhaps we are only experiencing an involution. The marks on the walls of our cities are perhaps a testimonial, like scars of a wounded civilization.
José Parlá: Taganga, Colombia. July 10th, 2008
AN EXQUISITE BOOK…
…was published by Elms Lesters to mark the occasion of this important exhibition, with a foreword by author and collector Saeb Eigner and essay by curator Michael Betancourt, it contains 83 full colour images across 140 pages.
There are a limited number of this highly collectable book available both from the gallery and from our online store
Structured into sections which explore different areas of José’s methodology and practice, it covers his research/ documentary photography from his travels, previously unpublished works, and concludes with a catalogue of works from his Elms Lesters solo show – Adaptation / Translation.
A wallet at the back of the book includes two large format foldout doublesided illustrations, as well as two doublesided printed cards, all of which document the extraordinary site-specific works José painted during his residency at Elms Lesters in preparation for the exhibition.
