Art Collection
The Clark family began collecting art more than ten years ago, centering the collection on the work of emerging Black artists in North America and beyond. Collecting art from emerging artists is a form of supporting and advancing the development of the artists’ careers. Just as significant is the empowerment this form of support offers to contemporary social and cultural movements, of which the art is often a part, being that the work is usually a reflection of what is happening in the present moment.
Thematically much of the collection speaks to issues of representation and collective memory, confronting systems of power and recorded history which have constructed versions of race, ancestry, migration, gender, sexuality, and class that warrant contestation. Many of the artists engage their work as visual and social activism, aiming to provoke viewers into civic participation, if not full-blown activism. Throughout the Clark Collection, history, politics, identity, and popular culture are disrupted by artists who create with eclectic materials in mediums spanning the visual arts.
The majority of the Clark Collection is on display in the Clarks’ private residences, with the exception of a few pieces—most notably the portraits of President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, which are on display in the National Portrait Gallery. These portraits were painted by Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald, respectively.
Art Gallery
Remembering Radcliffe Bailey: A Great Artist
I was sad to learn that Radcliffe Bailey, a game-changing American contemporary visual artist, passed away recently. I was truly inspired by the time I spent with him. Radcliffe’s unique artistic approach, mixing media, paint, and sculpture, explored African-American history and the intersection of ancestry, race, and cultural memory in the everyday. Bailey was born in Bridgeton, New Jersey, on November 25, 1968, but moved to Atlanta, Georgia, by the age of four. Curator of modern and contemporary art Michael Rooks once said that Bailey was “probably the most prominent living artist here in...
Remembering Radcliffe Bailey: A Great Artist
I was sad to learn that Radcliffe Bailey, a game-changing American contemporary visual artist, passed away recently. I was truly inspired by the time I spent with him. Radcliffe’s unique artistic approach, mixing media, paint, and sculpture, explored African-American...
May’s Artist of the Month: Rashid Johnson
Rashid Johnson is a New-York based conceptual artist who was born in 1977 in Chicago, Illinois. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from Columbia College in Chicago and his Master of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Rashid has had numerous...
April’s Artist of the Month: El Anatsui
El Anatsui is a Ghanaian sculptor who has gained international recognition for his ground-breaking work in transforming everyday materials into stunning, monumental sculptures. Born in Anyako, Ghana, in 1944, he studied at the College of Art, Kwame Nkrumah University...
March’s Artist of the Month: Mickalene Thomas
There's something really special and different about Mickalene Thomas’s art. An African-American contemporary artist and filmmaker from New Jersey, she studied at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, where she earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2000, and later received...
February’s Artist of the Month: Derrick Adams
A person whose work I truly admire is Derrick Adams, a multidisciplinary New York-based artist. His installations include painting, collage, sculpture, performance, video, and sound. Through his art, he looks at how popular culture influences people’s views of...
January’s Artist of the Month: Myrlande Constant
Myrlande Constant is a Haitian textile artist born in 1968 specializing in Vodou-themed flags. Constant was born in Port-au-Prince, where she learned the art of beading while working with her mother in a wedding dress factory. After quitting that job because her...
Artists Find Home in Chicago’s Innovative Art World
Some of my great friends and favorite artists are featured in an article by Harper’s Bazaar about Chicago’s transformative art scene. Chicago is widely known as a “laboratory for architectural innovation and experimentation” for its architecture and art. Living in the...
October’s Artist of the Month: Ayana V. Jackson
Ayana V. Jackson is an American contemporary artist, photographer, and filmmaker who is among the most talented artists working today. She was raised in East Orange, New Jersey, where her family has lived for generations. Jackson’s family dates back to Lawnside, the...
August’s Artist of the Month: Marcellina Akpojotor
A young artist whose work I admire immensely is Marcellina Akpojotor. She is from Nigeria and her art explores female empowerment and the roles of women in African society. She says she was drawn to art from an early age and spent a lot of her childhood observing her...
Art Collection
The Clark family began collecting art more than ten years ago, centering the collection on the work of emerging Black artists in North America and beyond. Collecting art from emerging artists is a form of supporting and advancing the development of the artists’ careers. Just as significant is the empowerment this form of support offers to contemporary social and cultural movements, of which the art is often a part, being that the work is usually a reflection of what is happening in the present moment.
Thematically much of the collection speaks to issues of representation and collective memory, confronting systems of power and recorded history which have constructed versions of race, ancestry, migration, gender, sexuality, and class that warrant contestation. Many of the artists engage their work as visual and social activism, aiming to provoke viewers into civic participation, if not full-blown activism. Throughout the Clark Collection, history, politics, identity, and popular culture are disrupted by artists who create with eclectic materials in mediums spanning the visual arts.
The majority of the Clark Collection is on display in the Clarks’ private residences, with the exception of a few pieces—most notably the portraits of President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, which are on display in the National Portrait Gallery. These portraits were painted by Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald, respectively.
Art Gallery
Remembering Radcliffe Bailey: A Great Artist
I was sad to learn that Radcliffe Bailey, a game-changing American contemporary visual artist, passed away recently. I was truly inspired...
May’s Artist of the Month: Rashid Johnson
Rashid Johnson is a New-York based conceptual artist who was born in 1977 in Chicago, Illinois. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from...
April’s Artist of the Month: El Anatsui
El Anatsui is a Ghanaian sculptor who has gained international recognition for his ground-breaking work in transforming everyday materials...
March’s Artist of the Month: Mickalene Thomas
There's something really special and different about Mickalene Thomas’s art. An African-American contemporary artist and filmmaker from...
February’s Artist of the Month: Derrick Adams
A person whose work I truly admire is Derrick Adams, a multidisciplinary New York-based artist. His installations include painting,...
January’s Artist of the Month: Myrlande Constant
Myrlande Constant is a Haitian textile artist born in 1968 specializing in Vodou-themed flags. Constant was born in Port-au-Prince, where...
Remembering Radcliffe Bailey: A Great Artist
I was sad to learn that Radcliffe Bailey, a game-changing American contemporary visual artist, passed away recently. I was truly inspired...
May’s Artist of the Month: Rashid Johnson
Rashid Johnson is a New-York based conceptual artist who was born in 1977 in Chicago, Illinois. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from...
April’s Artist of the Month: El Anatsui
El Anatsui is a Ghanaian sculptor who has gained international recognition for his ground-breaking work in transforming everyday materials...
March’s Artist of the Month: Mickalene Thomas
There's something really special and different about Mickalene Thomas’s art. An African-American contemporary artist and filmmaker from...
February’s Artist of the Month: Derrick Adams
A person whose work I truly admire is Derrick Adams, a multidisciplinary New York-based artist. His installations include painting,...
January’s Artist of the Month: Myrlande Constant
Myrlande Constant is a Haitian textile artist born in 1968 specializing in Vodou-themed flags. Constant was born in Port-au-Prince, where...
Artists Find Home in Chicago’s Innovative Art World
Some of my great friends and favorite artists are featured in an article by Harper’s Bazaar about Chicago’s transformative art scene....
October’s Artist of the Month: Ayana V. Jackson
Ayana V. Jackson is an American contemporary artist, photographer, and filmmaker who is among the most talented artists working today....