Graydon Parrish

Wielding a lengthy and prestigious training, recognized color theorist and painter Graydon Parrish blends a classical painting technique with a gift for the allegorical. Born to two passionate art collectors, Graydon Parrish embarked on his education at a young age. He graduated from the Booker T. Washington High School for the Visual and Performing Arts in Dallas, Texas, and subsequently relocated to New York to pursue instruction at the New York Academy of Art, a school recently established by Andy Warhol.

 

As a student of the institution, Graydon Parrish formed what would become a decade-long mentorship with noted artist Michael Aviano. He emerged with a Master of Fine Arts in 1990 and continued to study under Aviano for the next two years, a period in which he gained further insight and skill in the realm of the allegory. Graydon Parrish further augmented his prowess as an artist and student with a Bachelor of Arts from Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts. During his tenure as a student of Amherst, Graydon Parrish completed his first famed allegorical piece, “Remorse, Despondence and Acceptance of an Early Death.” Measuring 10 by 4 feet, his first masterpiece addresses the American consciousness’ relationship with AIDS and stands replete with figurative imagery; it currently hangs in Amherst College’s Mead Art Museum, a venue curated by the university’s trustees.

 

In the following three years, Graydon Parrish continued to gain notice for both his technical proficiency and his sensitivity toward the human experience. The New Britain Museum of American Art subsequently contacted the artist to complete a work that spoke to the events of September 11, 2001. The painting that resulted, The Cycle of Terror and Tragedy, so effectively provoked a conversation about a nation’s method of coping with disaster that it garnered comparisons to Picasso’s Guernica. Graydon Parrish currently resides in Austin, Texas, and exercises his insight through various avenues, including an upcoming lecture at the nearby Blanton Museum of Art and an ongoing appointment as an instructor at The Grand Central Academy of Art in New York City. 

Professional Experience:   

Graydon Parrish Fine Arts 
President 
Fine Arts 
Austin, TX

http://www.graydonparrish.com/Graydon_Parrish/Home.html

1994 — Present
 

Education:  

Amherst College 
BA in French, Fine Art, Social Biology, History 
Amherst, MA

New York Academy of Art 
MFA in Painting 
New York, NY

 

Interests:    

Art collecting, rare seashells, 19th century and modernist art history, art consulting, traveling, athletics

 

Groups / Organizations:

America China Oil Painting Artist's League, Phi Beta Kappa Society

Community Service:

Octopus Club of Austin benefiting the Paul Kirby HIV/AIDS emergency fund

Charities:

Arthouse, Tyler Museum of Art, Austin Museum of Art, Aids Services Austin, the Houston Grand Opera, Paul Kirby Fund, the Austin Lyric Opera, Animal Trustees of Austin, Zach Scott Theater

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