{"id":416373,"date":"2026-10-02T03:20:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T03:20:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/416373\/"},"modified":"2026-10-02T03:20:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T03:20:11","slug":"i-was-inspired-by-so-many-people-throughout-this-journey-st-pete-artist-palehorse-discusses-his-first-solo-show-in-10-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/416373\/","title":{"rendered":"‘I was inspired by so many people throughout this journey’: St. Pete artist Palehorse discusses his first solo show in 10 years"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AChris Parks, aka Palehorse, at Creative Loafing Tampa Bay\u2019s CLTV studio in Tampa, Florida on Sept. 24, 2026. Credit: Daniel Cura\/Palm Tree Content \/ Creative Loafing Tampa Bay\/CLTV<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to mistake the art of Chris Parks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Known for his intricate linework and reverence for Asian and Latin iconography, the 47-year-old has always followed his bliss in creating illustrative sacred art that pulls the curtain back on his curiosity about ancient civilizations, cultures and scriptures like the Ramayana and the Bhagavad Gita.<\/p>\n

\u201cI tune into archetypes and gods and goddesses as examples of what\u2019s possible for humans,\u201d Parks, better known as Palehorse<\/a>, told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay during a recent CLTV taping.<\/p>\n

\"Youtube<\/p>\n

His 20-year career has certainly been a study in how to make it in the Tampa Bay art scene.<\/p>\n

A graduate of Ringling College of Art & Design, Parks grew up skateboarding in Venice, Florida and playing in hardcore bands that would often travel to St. Pete to play venues like the old Joe Mocha\u2019s and Refuge space.<\/p>\n

Born with hip dysplasia, Parks also spent large parts of his childhood in wheelchairs or casts, and knew he couldn\u2019t do the blue-collar work that kept food on his family\u2019s table. In ninth grade he caught a presentation about commercial art, complete with a Photoshop demo. He\u2019s been working on art ever since.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was thinking practically, like I need to have a job, something that I wouldn\u2019t hate,\u201d Parks explained.<\/p>\n

It worked out, and Palehorse has kept a studio in St. Petersburg for the last 20 years. Parks is also a co-founder of the Shine Mural Festival (stylized \u201cSHINE\u201d). He\u2019s been contracted by some of the world\u2019s biggest companies (Nike, Vans, DC Comics), bands (Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age), and publications (National Geographic, Wired). He often spent his earnings on personal projects like the full-on 2015 lucha-themed wrestling match and art show at Rialto Theatre<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to really explore ideas that I had and present them in metaphorical ways through characters,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Many of the characters from Parks\u2019 body of work will be on display for \u201cShapeshifter,\u201d his first solo show in 10 years<\/a>, opening this month at Morean Arts Center.<\/p>\n

The road to the show actually started during and after the pandemic when Parks left his agent, and clients, knowing he couldn\u2019t do that volume of commercial work for the next decade. He had started practicing Kriya Yoga, where someone meditates to master the energy in their body. He launched a podcast<\/a> and sought more ways to connect with people through art.<\/p>\n

\u201cShapeshifter\u201d includes lenticulars, including one that will shift between the fierce Japanese Buddha Fud\u014d My\u014d\u014d and the peaceful Cosmic Buddha (those Buddhas appear on the two-sided cover of this issue). Parks\u2019 lucha libre era will be represented along with the rock poster work, hand-sewn fabric in doorways, and gold-brushed aluminum, too. The illustrations that came out of Parks\u2019 2011 psychedelics phase will also be on the walls while Parks live paints a large scale mural on a gallery\u2019s wall (he starts that work on Oct. 1 and will finish it while visitors are in the gallery).<\/p>\n

Parks said the solo was the idea of his wife, fellow Shine co-founder Michelle Tannu, a curator who is working with Parks on a \u201cShapeshifter\u201d companion show, \u201cPractice Dying: A Skull & Bones Exhibit,\u201d<\/a> which opens on the same night and features more than 30 artists.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That show\u2019s title is lifted from an old Parks piece he made while reading the Tibetan Book of the Dead. Many of Parks\u2019 favorite national and homegrown artists\u2014like Nicole Salgar and tattoo artist Jeff Srsic\u2014will have work on display, which is not surprising for anyone who knows Parks.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always like to make it about us and about the people,\u201d he told CL. \u201cI didn\u2019t get here on my own. I was inspired by so many people throughout this journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

And while \u201cShapeshifter\u201d is very much a retrospective, the show is also an open door to whatever comes next for Parks who sees the show as the beginning of his career.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re putting a point in the journey. I\u2019m going through the doorway of commercial art, and leaving behind that kid that just wanted to get a job doing something that he wouldn\u2019t hate,\u201d he said. \u201cI feel like this show has really been a way for me to really let go of that side of myself and really dive into becoming an artist in a real way.\u201d<\/p>\n

There will be apparel, attainable prints, and technology, but this next phase will also find Parks illustrating more than ever, working on paintings, and murals, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy career now is shifting,\u201d he told CL. \u201cI have my style. I have my medium, and I\u2019m now, really after doing the show, I\u2019m able to trust that inspiration to come on demand, planting the seed, knowing it\u2019ll come when I need it. It will show up. So this is the beginning of working in that way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AThe Oct. 1, 2026 cover and second page of Creative Loafing Tampa Bay showing Chris Parks, aka Palehorse, illustrations of the fierce Japanese Buddha Fud\u014d My\u014d\u014d (L) and the peaceful Cosmic Buddha. Credit: Illustrations by Chris Parks aka Palehorse<\/p>\n

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This article appears in Oct. 01 \u2013 07, 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n

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