Janette Parris is a visual artist who deals with themes such as success, failure and aspiration, as well as the contemporary urban experience. She uses the everyday as the basis for much of her work and uses different media including: animation, drawing, and performance. her work is strongly narrative and often in the form of comic strips which captures the humour in life. One of her works was an animation about a group of friends who frequent a greasy spoon cafe ‘Fred’s’. In addition to animation she also a musical devised a about a group of graduates pursuing romantic relationships which included popular music (‘If You Love Me’ 1999).
The pieces of work I found the most interesting and humorous was the work with Arch Comics and ‘Bite Yer Tongue’. Parris’ Arch Comic works was the first attempt at a socially engaged practice which centered around elderly residents in a care home and the conversations they had in them. This was later followed by a second edition where contemporary art was commented on and the lives of artists. ‘Bite Yer Tongue’ were extremely relatable pieces of handwritten texts that provided a humorous take on the struggles of every day life.
Along with animation and comics, Parris is also interested in music. She decided to learn to play the guitar and later began constructing performance pieces that were often site specific. ‘Museums at Night’ in 2014 is an example where the artifact of the museum were used as a context to Parris’ work.
Rebecca Uffindell 