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Artist Statement:
Philadelphia born artist
Michael Clemmons uses a
cultural palette when creating
his mix-media works employing
acrylics, graphite, paper and
gold leaf; his luminous
paintings reference timeless
landscapes, figurative
elements and symbols (West
African Adinkra symbols as
well as personal iconography).
Clemmons’ oeuvre also includes
a series of ceramic works ...
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Artist Exhibitions:
Selected Exhibitions
2008 Black Clay: Dialogue in
Flux, August Wilson Center
Center for the Arts,
Pittsburgh PA
2007 Form and Function,
Crafts for Living Gallery,
Philadelphia PA
2006 Migrations of the
African Diaspora, Pittsburg
center for the Contemporaty
Arts, Pittsburg, PA
2006 Silent Voices, Loud
Echoes, African American
Museum in ...
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Artist Galleries:
Sande Webster Gallery
2006 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103...
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Collections:
The Kimmel Center of
Performing Arts, Philadelphia,
PA
Philadelphia Board of
Education
Swarthmore College,
Swarthmore, PA
Doctor and Mrs. Arthur Weiss,
Philadelphia, PA
Dr. Anthony Monteiro,
Philadelphia, PA
The Philadelphia Zoological
Gardens
Ms. Jennifer Jordan, New
Jersey
West Chester State
University, PA
Ms. Vashti Dubois, Boston
Massachusetts
Dr. Miriam Maat ...
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Commissions:
Barbara Dawkins, Philadelphia,
PA, USA
Temple University,
Philadelphia, Pennslyvania,
USA
Sande Webster Gallery,
Philadelphia, PA, US
Dr. Rebecca Thomas, India
John and Barbara Dawkins,
Philadelphia, PA, USA
Dr. Miriam Monges,
Philadelphia PA, usa
...
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Reviews for Michael Clemmons:
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Art Review: Exhibition looks at Hurricane Katrina's diaspora
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
By Mary Thomas
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
When the word "diaspora" is used in connection with African-American history, it is often paired with the slave trade or with the post-emancipation population shift toward employment in the industrial North and away from the Jim Crow South.
In the past year, the devastating experience of Hurricane Katrina added a new chapter to that history of dispersion, one that's potently explored by Tenanche Golden in her installation "Cane Wash," part of the juried exhibition "Migrations of the African Diaspora" at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts.
The exhibition itself is the finest yet by the Women of Visions -- a local African-American artist organization that now includes men in its membership -- with artists from as far away as California and Georgia.
The juror was studio artist Lydia Thompson, an assistant professor of ceramics at Virginia Commonwealth University and Fulbright Hayes Scholar. Thompson was one of the exhibitors in last year's "COLOR: Ten African American Artists," at the Society for Contemporary Craft, Strip District.
Three-dimensional expression shines in this show.
Golden's piece, "Cane Wash," packs the largest punch -- because of the work's size, currency and poignancy -- mixing the emotional experience of individual suffering and statistical compilations, a fabricated family and actual quotes from evacuees and media.
On a back wall, a map of the United States graphically shows where residents evacuated to, along with panels that list states and numbers of persons received. The foreground floor is strewn with such objects as bricks, brush, a screen door, shingle and clothing including a pair of children's shoes, one of which is wedged in a dislocated branch. In the center, a tipped washtub holds a couple of pieces of clothing and family pictures.
The balance between real suffering and the larger bureaucratic response to the natural disaster (some, perhaps including Golden, would argue largely man-made) plays out also in the choice of quotes hung on the left and right walls, inspiring reflection upon an event that is far from over for those who were most directly affected.
Vanessa German's high-stepping installation "In Transit" -- three suspended pairs of variously sized and styled, beaded shoes -- suggests that migrations can occur within people as well as within groups.
Ceramics stand out, with skilled work by Mary Martin and Lydia Thompson.
In "Izetta's Lessons of Domesticity" and "Elizabeth's Love Bond," Martin continues her use of the hand as symbolic and expressive agent, these patterned with designs that are perhaps her own creation or perhaps drawn from traditional henna designs. Different narratives, such as of solidarity or servitude, are suggested by placement with objects like conch shells or a mosaic of broken porcelain dinnerware.
Thompson shows impeccably accomplished wheeled forms that she piles with shapes that resemble yams ("Sweet Coals") or white-glazed anatomical hearts ("Cotton Bones"). Another, "Black Island," is a flat matte black field surrounded by rows of wave-like licks of blue. Thompson writes in her juror's statement that she's long been interested in migration and has for years made work that "addresses transporting significant cultural objects by cart/train."
Also richly conceived is Michael Clemmons' "Four Girls From Birmingham," including four small sculptures of children, their heads individuated over bodies flowing into long, white, angelic gowns, most certainly a reference to the 1963 racist bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., in which four young parishioners perished. Above the figures, four fans of the type commonly used in the South to keep cool during church services are imprinted with Ghanaian adinkra symbols or images that reference the Civil Rights movement.
There are, too, polished works in two dimension, most notably monotypes by Jo-Anne Bates -- "We Followed the Rivers" and "Time Marches On" -- and fiberwork by Tina Williams Brewer -- "They Are Watching" and "Time After Time" -- which reference historic narrative through finely tuned abstract compositions.
Also of note are Lillian Blades' colorful, celebratory mixed media "Sankofa Dress" and "Memory Board," which draw upon tradition and memory; Frank Hightower's graphically sharp mixed media "Engaged in the Military" and "Executive Order," which reference contemporary socio-political issues; and Sonya Lawyer's photographic pairings "Carved on the Land" and "On the Boardwalk," which explore presence and absence, the marks left upon a place or those a place leaves upon a person.
Women of Visions includes among its membership emerging artists as well, and some of the work reflects developing talent. But that hardly diminishes the presentation, and in an exhibition themed as this one is, a variety of voices broadens the discussion.
(Post-Gazette art critic Mary Thomas can be reached at mthomas@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1925. )
TU administrator sees art as extension of life and work
Michael Clemmons, pictured here with one of his sculptures, finds that his aesthetic vision is integral to how he approaches all aspects of his life.
By day, Michael Clemmons is associate coordinator of the Center for Social Policy and Community Development, where he helps bridge university and community interests through training programs and parenting classes. By night, Clemmons retreats to his private studio, where he commits to canvas the cultural continuum, as he puts it, that is his experience as an African-American man. A painter and sculptor, he likes to experiment with symbols and color, working with various media to communicate the “epic memory” that inspires him. And, while his vocational and avocational worlds might seem polar opposites, Clemmons regularly sees the connections. “Art is not a separate entity that stands apart from everything else,” said Clemmons, a graduate of the University of the Arts, where he studied art and art education. “It may be abstract, but it affects what I do in a very real way.” Clemmons spends a lot of time in both worlds: he loves working with people, but sometimes spends up to 20 hours a week in his Spring Garden Street studio, where he has been creating artwork for 10 years. The studio is lined from wall to wall with canvases depicting solitary figures amid shimmering pastel fields that catch the light from the windows. “I’m intrigued by the play of light and the effects of time of day on finished pieces,” Clemmons said. “As the light shifts over the course of the day, the paintings seem to change.” In one corner, human figures, with faces suggesting repose, have been transformed into foot-tall vessels—his sculptures, which he creates at the Clay Studio on 2nd Street. “People are vessels,” he said, lifting a lid to show the empty “body” beneath the boldly sculpted head. “I’m interested in exploring metaphors and spirituality in my work. For instance, we talk about the Middle Passage as part of the African Diaspora, but this talks to me about our own passage through life.” He also incorporates cultural symbols into his work; the paintings contain adinkras, geometric symbols that represent proverbs, animals and objects from day-to-day life in West Africa. Clemmons hopes to find more opportunities to integrate his artistic endeavors with his people-person side in “cultural mentorships,” where his work with families at Temple gives him a chance to nurture young creative minds. “That’s something I want to do more of,” he said. “I’ve done after-school programs at Dunbar Elementary and worked with kids in a church in West Oak Lane, where I live. I’ve brought groups of students to my studio, and helped at the Mural Arts Center. “For me, it’s very important to have these kinds of formal and informal mentorships,” he continued. “Giving kids opportunities in art, painting, sculpture, dance—anything in the creative arena—serves as a cultural messenger and shows them one way to express creativity.” Clemmons has been branching out from his many local and regional exhibitions to recent showings in places like New York City and Puerto Rico. A lifelong Philadelphia resident, he thrives amid the Philadelphia art scene, which he finds supportive. “I’m clearly an urban person,” Clemmons said. “I enjoy being a part of the energy of an arts community and seeing what other creative people are doing.” —Helen H. Thompson * * * Clemmons’ work, along with that of more than 70 other artists, will be featured at an open studios event this weekend at 915 Studios, 915 Spring Garden St. Visit Clemmons in studio 214 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. For more information, call 215-232-5459.
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