Steve Parker is an artist and musician in Austin, Texas. He is the winner of the Rome Prize,[1] the Tito's Prize,[2] a Fulbright Fellowship,[3] and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts.[4]
Work edit
Steve Parker uses sculpture, sound, and performance to create communal, democratic works that examine history and behavior.[5] Futurist Listening, at the CUE Art Foundation curated by Marcela Guerrero, featured sonic headwear, acoustic sculptures built from brass instruments, and graphic scores that utilized World War II tactics like jamming signals, coded messages, and warning sirens, reimagining them in sculptural form as tools for present-day protest and deception.[6] War Tuba Recital, featured sculptural work inspired by the role of sound in conflict. In this exhibition, he drew from the work of Dr. Seuss, the WWII Ghost Army, and acoustic location to make a series of interactive sculptures.[7] Grackle Call was a multi-media soundwalk that took audiences to the roosting locations of the great-tailed grackle. The work mimicked a birding experience, where audiences were provided with binoculars, iPods, and a printed program guide that guided them to performances, installations, radio stories, and soundscapes.[8] In 2016, he composed Bat/Man, a participatory composition for bat echolocation, conch shells, funnel pipes, megaphone choir, and echolocation devices for the Fusebox Festival.[9]
In 2019, he was commissioned by KMFA to create a long term installation called Sound Garden in the radio station's new building.[10]
Parker is the curator of SoundSpace at the Blanton Museum of Art.
Selected exhibitions edit
- Foghorn Elegy, an installation of foghorns and communication tower about defunct forms of nautical communication commissioned by The Contemporary Austin, 2021[11]
- Futurist Listening at Rich Mix, London, UK, 2021[12]
- Sanctus, at the American Academy in Rome, 2021
- Texas Biennial, McNay Art Museum, 2021[13]
- Sound Garden installation at radio station KMFA, 2020[14]
- Futurist Listening, an exhibition about the role of listening in surveillance and conflict at the CUE Art Foundation, New York, NY, 2020[15]
- Tubascope, an interactive listening tower based on WWII acoustic locators commissioned by the City of Ketchum[16]
Performer edit
Parker is the trombonist for Ensemble Signal, a contemporary classical ensemble based in New York City.[17] He has premiered over 200 new works for trombone, often including electronics and extended techniques. He is a professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio.[18]
Partial discography edit
- Nearly Extinct with Henry Kaiser / Steve Parker / Damon Smith / Chris Cogburn (Balance Point, 2016)[19]
- Shelter with Ensemble Signal and Bang on a Can (Cantaloupe Music, 2013)[20]
References edit
- ^ "Rome Prize Fellows | American Academy in Rome". www.aarome.org. Retrieved 2020-07-26.
- ^ Faires, Robert (July 17, 2018). "Steve Parker Wins 2018 Tito's Prize". www.austinchronicle.com. Retrieved 2020-05-19.
- ^ "Steve Parker — Asian Arts Initiative". Retrieved 2020-05-26.
- ^ "Steve Parker". Galveston Arts Center. Retrieved 2020-10-01.
- ^ "Steve Parker". CUE Art Foundation. Retrieved 2020-05-19.
- ^ "Steve Parker". CUE Art Foundation. Retrieved 2020-05-26.
- ^ Ryzin, Jeanne Claire van (2018-10-17). "Steve Parker's Surround Sounds". Sightlines. Retrieved 2020-05-26.
- ^ "Grackle Call". New Music USA. Retrieved 2020-05-26.
- ^ Brenner, Wayne Alan (April 8, 2016). "Steve Parker's Song for Bat / Man". www.austinchronicle.com. Retrieved 2020-05-19.
- ^ van Ryzin, Jeanne Claire (2019-09-19). "KMFA Commissions a 'Sound Garden' from Artist Steve Parker". Sightlines. Retrieved 2020-05-26.
- ^ "Steve Parker's melancholy sound machine, 'Foghorn Elegy'". Sightlines. 2021-10-30. Retrieved 2021-12-02.
- ^ "Futurist Listening - Steve Parker". Emerging Artist Gallery. Retrieved 2021-12-02.
- ^ "Review: 2021 Texas Biennial at SAMA and the McNay Art Museum". Southwest Contemporary. 2021-11-15. Retrieved 2021-12-02.
- ^ Faires, Robert (January 29, 2021). "KMFA's New Home Brings the Community Into Contact With Music". www.austinchronicle.com. Retrieved 2021-12-02.
- ^ "Circuit Boards of Sound: The Sculpture of Steve Parker". Design Milk. 2020-01-21. Retrieved 2021-12-02.
- ^ "Interactive sculpture coming to Ketchum". Idaho Mountain Express Newspaper. Retrieved 2021-12-02.
- ^ Allen, David (2015-09-30). "Review: Ensemble Signal's Musicians Do Solo Turns in 'Theatricals'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-05-19.
- ^ "Faculty | UTSA Department of Music". music.utsa.edu. Retrieved 2020-05-19.
- ^ "Nearly Extinct bpaltd707, by Henry Kaiser / Steve Parker / Damon Smith / Chris Cogburn". Balance Point Acoustics. Retrieved 2020-05-19.
- ^ "Shelter - Gordon/Lang/Wolfe - Bang on a Can". bangonacan.org. Retrieved 2020-05-19.