UPDATE: George Clinton will be interviewed on stage by Melissa A. Weber, also known as DJ Soul Sister, at the Contemporary Arts Center, 900 Camp Street, on Friday, October 22, at 7 p.m. The event is free but advance reservations are requested.
New Orleans will play host to Free Your Mind, the first ever solo exhibition of paintings and drawings by legendary musician George Clinton. The display will open at SPILLMAN | BLACKWELL Fine Art on October 2, the date of Art for Art’s Sake, and remain on view through November 3, which coincides with the artist’s 80th birthday and the citywide Prospect 5 triennial of contemporary art exhibitions.
Free Your Mind will feature recent paintings as well as historical works from the past thirty years, and provides a never-before-seen overview of Clinton’s journey as a visual artist. In the 1970s and ’80s, Clinton revolutionized music and performance through the pioneering work of the band Parliament-Funkadelic. His original sounds and visual sensibilities are part of the founding DNA of electronic funk, gangsta-funk, and hip-hop. Clinton continues to have an extraordinary influence over popular music and culture and has inspired the works of countless musicians including Snoop Dog, Ice Cube, Dr. Dre and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, among many others.
Clinton’s paintings and sculptures riff on themes from his music, including images of his iconic “Atomic Dog” and “Mothership.”
Digital Dabbing (2020), a work of acrylic spray paint and pastel by George Clinton, is among the works included in the exhibition Free Your Mind. Photo by Larry Coltharp, courtesy of Spring McManus Art Advisory.
“As a visual artist, Clinton’s body of work is as adventurous and eclectic as his music,” said Spring McManus, who manages the sales of Clinton’s visual works. “His rhythm and energy translate into lyrical compositions with sweeping forms.”
When his farewell tour was cancelled due to the pandemic, Clinton spent the quarantine in his studio in Florida, creating new paintings as well as a series of painted birdhouses. A selection of these works will also be on view. Clinton’s body of work is experiencing a resurgence in national and international prominence. A replica of his “Mothership,” considered one of the most iconic stage props in African American musical history, is now on view as part of Mothership: Voyage into Afrofuturism, a group exhibition at the Oakland Museum of Art.
Clinton’s work inspired the Afrofuturist movement, and appears alongside such artists as Wangechi Mutu, Dora Milaje and William Cordova. A percentage of proceeds from the sales of Free Your Mind will be donated to Clinton’s Foundation, Protecting Our Legacy, which supports musicians and their families to acquire and maintain the rights to their works. To celebrate this exhibition as well as Prospect.5, SPILLMAN | BLACKWELL will host an opening reception on October 23, where the artist will be present.
In an interview from the December 2017 edition of OffBeat, Clinton said, “Funk is an international language. Everybody can speak it. It’s an interplanetary language!” Read the full conversation here.
For more information on the gallery, located at 866 Camp Street, visit here.
