Kenneth E. Parris III (born in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

) is a New York visual artist and creative director. He received his BFA in illustration and an AAS in graphic design at the

Rochester Institute of Technology The Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is a private university, private research university in Henrietta, New York, a suburb of Rochester, New York, Rochester. It was founded in 1829. It is one of only two institute of technology, institut ...

. His paintings and installations have been critically acclaimed by a number of publications and media including the

Walker Art Center The Walker Art Center is a multidisciplinary contemporary art center in the Lowry Hill, Minneapolis, Lowry Hill neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is one of the most-visited modern and contemporary art museums in ...

online magazine,

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, ''

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'' and ''Trend Hunter''. Parris traveled on the final two-year world tour with The

Merce Cunningham Mercier Philip "Merce" Cunningham (April 16, 1919 – July 26, 2009) was an American dancer and choreographer who was at the forefront of American modern dance for more than 50 years. He frequently collaborated with artists of other discipl ...

Dance Company where he created an original series of drawings and text titled "Drawing Dance" for ''

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''. This series was featured for 23 weeks on the ArtsBeat blog and culminated in an exhibition made possible in part through a Space Grant awarded from

Chashama ChaShaMa is a non-profit arts organization based in New York City. ChaShaMa nurtures artists by transforming unused property into affordable work and presentation space. __NOTOC__ Description Since being founded in 1995 by Anita Durst, daughter ...

. Parris continued drawing the series from reference photographs and expanded it to include mixed media paintings which were shown in multiple art galleries and venues in New York City, Houston, Philadelphia, and at

Jacob's Pillow Jacob's Pillow is a Dance studio, dance center, school and performance space located in Becket, Massachusetts, in the Berkshires. The facility itself was listed as a National Historic Landmark District in 2003. History The site of Jacob's Pi ...

during the Summer dance festival. Through a collaboration with the American Emo band

Mineral In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid substance with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2011): Mi ...

, Parris designed and art directed their 2019 retrospective book and album titled, One Day When We Are Young. Parris collaborated with former

dancer and Pam Tanowitz Dance Company artistic associate, rehearsal director, and dancer Melissa Toogood and sister Jodie Toogood on a multi-disciplinary performance piece titled SET A, PART described as “a joy to watch as it turned into Art in motion” by Kym Vaitiekus for Broadway World. To commemorate Merce Cunningham’s Centennial, the

92nd Street Y 92nd Street Y, New York (92NY) is a cultural and community center located in the Carnegie Hill neighborhood of the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, at the corner of East 92nd Street and Lexington Avenue. Founded in 1874 as the You ...

(92Y) hosted a Harkness Dance Festival Conversation about Parris’s collaboration with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company featuring him and former company members: Kimberly Bartosik, Dylan Crossman, Douglas Dunn, and Melissa Toogood. Vail Valley Foundation brought a selection of his work to Vail, Colorado, as well as facilitated the reproduction of works on outdoor displays throughout the village during Vail International Dance Festival in 2019. Parris has taught and lectured at the Miami Ad School in New York. For

The One Club The One Club is an American non-profit organization that recognizes and promotes excellence in advertising.Dougherty, Philip H. (May 11, 1981). One Club Honors Agencies. ''New York Times'' Founded in New York City as The One Club for Art & Copy, T ...

, Parris was on a lecture panel about Living A Creative Life during the Here Are All The Black People conference in New York City (2014). He was a recipient of a studio artist grant in Chashama’s Work Space Program from 2012 to 2021. Parris primarily lives and works in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, Australia.

References

External links

Artist's website

Creative Director website

Art Director/Designer website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parris, Kenneth III 1975 births 20th-century American painters American male painters 21st-century American painters 21st-century American male artists Living people Rochester Institute of Technology alumni 20th-century American male artists