marni muir gallery

March 5-29, 2008

Dixie Parker-Fairbanks: The Grief Series

Private preview:
Wednesday, March 5, 6-8 PM
First Thursday reception:
Thursday, March 6, 6-8 PM
Meet the artist:
Saturday, March 22, 3:30-5 PM

“The Grief Series,” a collection of acrylic paintings and collages by Pacific Northwest artist Dixie Parker-Fairbanks, is having its premiere showing at the Marni Muir Gallery in Seattle’s Pioneer Square.

Widow of renowned ceramicist Richard Fairbanks, Parker-Fairbanks created this body of work in the last decade in response to her husband’s tragic death in 1989.  This exhibit will also include select major pieces by Richard, whose works have been exhibited internationally.

Parker-Fairbanks paintings consist of dramatic single or paired nudes who appear to be struggling to break free of mental and physical ties. Their sublime urgency is heightened by the use of such elements as kites, horses, scissors and suns. The bold and expressively painted figures both hold tight and feel the need to let go of one another at the same time. In explaining the personal history that led to the creation of these paintings the artist states: “There have been years of gathering the necessary courage to revisit those darkest of days in the blackest of pits.  More time to discover if those innermost feelings could be presented within the parameters of my well-established painting vocabulary:  straightforward composition, strong beautiful color, intricate detail, and carefully rendered line.”