> Video: To the People of Orlando
> Video: 101 Eola

To the People of Orlando | John Ensor Parker

Materials: epoxy primer, auto base coat & single stage, clear coat on Omega Lite aluminum panel
Size: fourteen 20’x5’ panels
Completion date: February, 2008
Location: Orlando, Florida

Outdoor site-specific installation located downtown Orlando, Florida, entitled To the People of Orlando. Commissioned by Argentina based property developer, Real Estate Inverlad N. A. to be installed on their new fourteen-story condominium building 101 Eola.  It consists of fourteen 20’ tall by 5’ wide aluminum panels mounted on aluminum framing at three sides of the architectural structure spanning a full city block. 

In great regard, the foundation of the work is related to the body of work entitled To the People of New York City, by the German born artist Blinky Palermo.  Although Palermo died in 1977 when Parker was only seven years of age, and he never studied Palermo’s work until a couple years prior to conceiving the Orlando piece.  He discovered a strong relationship with the work of the late artist, almost as if the he had an inadvertent influence on Parker.  Palermo, who studied under Joseph Beuys, was a colleague of Sigmar Polke and Gerhard Richter, became a pioneer of aluminum paintings which expound upon the appreciation of color meets line.  To the People of New York City is a series of painted aluminum works that greatly celebrate this relationship.  This appreciation of color meets line is also a major component of the Orlando piece.  However, only in the foundation of the work is this apparent, as Parker says, this work was created at a different time, and a different place, by a different artist.

Beyond the clean orderly component of the piece where each union of differing color and shape are clearly defined with a formal line, Parker calls attention to particular entities by highlighting with hand brushed borders.  Further he employs scientific notation to represent an analytical and critical approach.  The superimposition of the varying styles implies a balanced perspective.