Ernie Parada

Ernie Parada is an American painter based in Queens, New York. Working in acrylic on

canvas, he depicts familiar New York City scenes in a precise, realist manner, with one

element subtly altered. In the tradition of René Magritte, the ordinary view is left large-

ly intact, so the single detail that is out of place gives the image a quietly surreal

quality.

Parada’s subject is the everyday landscape of New York: subway cars, elevated lines,

street corners, storefronts, and tenement facades. In recent works, a giant pigeon rests

among the towers of Manhattan, an elevated train crosses a trestle overgrown with

jungle, and a figure flies away off a sunlit fire escape. In each case the image stays

recognizably New York while quietly defying expectation.

Born in New York City, Parada is largely self-taught and has studied at the Art Students

League of New York. Before taking painting up seriously, he was a member of several

Nyew York punk and hardcore bands.