Mary Tooley Parker American, b. 1957
Biography
Mary Tooley Parker
Mary Tooley Parker is a textile maker. Her artwork focuses on realistic interpretations of people and nature, whether from memories, local history, or visual images. Incorporated in her work are new and recycled wool, cotton, and silk fabric, fleece, handspun yarn, silk fiber, metallic fibers, and more. She uses natural and synthetic dyes to create colors as needed.
Textile art is received by the viewer in a different way than fine art, and there is science showing that a different part of the brain is stimulated when viewing a textile. It appeals to the senses, especially touch, and gives a feeling of warmth and familiarity before the brain even registers the visual image. Working in the simple medium of rug hooking affords Parker a strong connection not only to the fibers running through her fingertips, but also to the women who used this medium and other fiber mediums to express themselves during difficult times and with limited materials. Using this medium as a creative expression of her 21st century experience, she carries this tradition into the contemporary art world by taking the work off the floor to be viewed as art.
Exhibitions
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Mary Tooley Parker: The Crystal
Solo Exhibition 23 Feb - 31 Mar 2024The first Solo Exhibition of Mary Tooley Parker at LaiSun Keane, Boston MA. "The Crystal" is on view from February 23 to March 31, 2024 showcasing all new hand made hooked rugs depicting interior and exterior scenes and portraits of friends.Read more -
Come Together: A Curated Gallery Selection
Eva Lewis • Kyra Gregory • Ray Hwang • Susan Metrican • Buket Savci • Michael C. Thorpe • Mary Tooley Parker • Chase Travaille • Charles Yuen 31 Mar - 16 Apr 2023LaiSun Keane is thrilled to announce a group exhibition from March 31st to April 16th, highlighting a few select artists we have had the pleasure of working with. The exhibition is titled Come Together, which may be familiar to many Beatles fans, but to us, it expresses our ongoing focus on inclusivity and diversity. Featured artists: Kyra Gregory, Ray Hwang, Eva Lewis, Susan Metrican, Mary Tooley Parker, Chase Travaille, Michael C. Thorpe, Buket Savci and Charles Yuen.Read more -
STITCH!
LoVid • Mary Tooley Parker • Michael C. Thorpe • Stacey Lee Webber 8 Jul - 21 Aug 2022LaiSun Keane is pleased to present a fiber and textile art group presentation, STITCH! featuring LoVid • Mary Tooley Parker • Michael C. Thorpe • Stacey Lee Webber on view from July 8 - August 21, 2022.Read more -
Harbinger
Mary DeVincentis • Jackie Shatz • Mary Tooley Parker 2 Sep - 17 Oct 2021The word “harbinger” is used here to signify what our hope for the future entails and reinforces one of our gallery missions - to provide a platform for contemporary art by women working in diverse mediums of art.Read more
Art Fairs
News
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John Yau Reviews Mary Tooley Parker
The Crystal March 12, 2024Tooley Parker has taken a folk art form that emerged in the mid-19th century and transformed it into a way of recounting a slice of rural life in the early 1960s. Her memorialization of key periods in her early life is quirky, tender, and winsome. The softness of her tapestries exudes a welcoming comfort. by John Yau. Hyperallergic, March 12, 2024Read more -
The Core of Her Happiness
by Cate McQuaid, "Ocean in A Drop" weekly newsletter February 27, 2024Mary Tooley Parker is featured in Cate McQuaid's weekly newsletter "Ocean In A Drop". In this article, Mary shares her process from start to finish a work titled "Wisconsin Medieval Tapestry" which is included and on view in her solo exhibition "The Crystal" through March 31, 2024.Read more -
The Boston Globe Reviews STITCH!
At LaiSun Keane, Group Exhibition July 26, 2022The Boston Globe, At LaiSun Keane, the united state of stitchRead more
Works
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Mary Tooley Parker, Upstairs Bedroom, Ruth's, 2023Sold
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Mary Tooley Parker, Ruth's Back Porch, 2023$ 5,000.00
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Mary Tooley Parker, Upstairs Blue Bedroom, Ruth's, 2023$ 4,000.00
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Mary Tooley Parker, Ruth's Front Porch, 2023$ 3,000.00
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Mary Tooley Parker, A My Name Is Alice, 2023$ 2,400.00
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Mary Tooley Parker, Ardice, 2023$ 1,000.00
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Mary Tooley Parker, Audrey, 2023$ 1,000.00
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Mary Tooley Parker, Elda, 2023$ 1,000.00
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Mary Tooley Parker, Ty, 2023$ 1,000.00
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Mary Tooley Parker, Hazel, 2023$ 1,000.00
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Mary Tooley Parker, LeeLee, 2023$ 1,000.00
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