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 non-figurative practice 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 and Guildhall Art Gallery, London. Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff. Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh and Arti et Amicitiae, Amsterdam. Recent exhibitions include: ’Brute’, ARTHOUSE1, London. ’The Mesh’, Watermans Arts Centre, London. ‘Personal Relations’, London, Netherlands and Italy. He was elected member of the London Group 1998. He held full and part-time academic posts from 1980 until retiring as Head of School, School of Fine Art, UCA in 2015.
